Under the Fiery Sky
by Tabitha of MoonAurora
Summary: The Oods have provided the Doctor with a new future, but without a companion, it seems that this future is impossible. Donna has endured in her fight against the Doctor's memory wipe.  Now the two must do the impossible and find one another again. Review!
1. Prologue

Prologue

If the best temp in Chiswick had every been told what had happened to her in her life before the genetic metacrisis, she would have stared at the person for a few seconds and then told them how completely bonkers they were along with a few other choice word that did not, in the slightest, denote any reasonable amount of decency. That's who Donna Noble was. Everyone in the entire universe remembered her, but she had no idea who she was, or what her past had brought. But what was possibly the most puzzling of all was what lay in her future.

The Oodsphere was a cold place but never unpleasant. Despite the spinning snow and the wind that drove it like bullets into the frozen ground, the Ood's had managed to make it seem the most hospitable and habitable place in the universe. At least, if your fortune ever lead you to meet them. That part was unlikely unless they wanted to see you. Past experiences had taught them many things about trust and so rather than make themselves vulnerable to devious intentions, they remained mostly hidden until that rare person came along. And there were only to people that Ood Sigma, would ever permit them to meet at least until he was certain that his world and his people were safe.

The Time Lords.

a/n- HA! A hundred words per minute; try 120! That's my current WPM. *grin* Anyway, so I don't know where this is going but I have a vague idea of what I plan to do. (That will probably change as it always does.) I felt like the journey of the Doctor and Donna was not finished and so I decided to do a bit of… plot writing of my own fixing the mistakes I believe were made in the end of season four. I am, however certain that, through my power skills of deduction, no one from the previous seasons will be appearing except for maybe River Song. (Silence in the Library & Forest of the Dead) Sadly this means we will never see Donna again. Anyway, I hope I will be able to do the Doctor Who world justice.

Tabitha

Oh and one more thing I fixed the end of "The End of Time" because really, who is a better doctor than 10? Ask me anything else about my plot and guess what I will tell you… Yup, that's right, spoilers!


	2. To Begin Again

Chapter 1

To Begin Again

Nearly two years, the Doctor had walked alone. No matter how many star systems, times and places he passed through, he never forgot their names. Oh yes, the multitude of names. All of his companions and without regard for the time they had stayed, he'd come to realize that they would always leave. It was something he'd accepted now and yet each time they did he was torn a little bit more, each loss sticking another pin in his hearts. Come to think of it, he probably would look like a bleeding pin cushion if the imagery was literal.

There was something though, about Donna, something about the way she was, the way time folded itself to her. He remembered the numerous times she said to people, when they suggested the journeying would someday become too much for her, that she would stay with "that impossible man" forever. And for some reason, he had whole heartedly believed her. It wasn't because he loved her, because, in a way, he did but rather because she knew what her life was like before she came with him. Temping, leaping from place to place and never settling, getting used to one thing and then having it ripped from under her as a solid replacement was hired, companies 'cutting their losses' when time got tough. Then, she had begged him to leave her memories there, to leave everything she'd been to him alone so that she could continue to travel with him. Of all of the people, all of his companions, for selfish reasons, he'd been unable to do it, sparing her life rather than allowing her her happiness aboard the TARDIS. Day to day, that guilt plagued him. So he swore he would not take another companion so he would not be forced to hurt them, and forced to tear himself apart even more. In the same way he would never fight with weapons, he would forever walk the stars alone.

The TARDIS, with all of its levers, switches and buttons, had once again taken him somewhere without prompting. The Doctor pulled the monitor to him trying, with an increasing amount of vague annoyance, to find his location. Surprisingly, wherever and whenever he was, the monitor was able to pick up at least three television stations, all of which he turned off after careful study of each. It would seem that on Earth or whatever human planet he was on, the mid afternoon soaps had begun. Finally, after smacking the monitor substantially and then apologizing to no one in particular, he straightened up and walked out the doors on the blue Police Call box.

Snow spun in circles around him and the wind of the Oodsphere was particularly fierce driving little nails of ice against his bare hands and face. Spirit as usual deceptively high, he shoved his hands in the pockets of his trench coat and sauntered, with a measured arrogance, toward the brilliant and now even more complex structures of the Ood's creation.

The Doctor considered, for a moment, that these people, whom he and Donna had saved, and whom had predicted Donna's short stint as a Time Lord, as DoctorDonna, always seemed to draw the Tardis whenever he was in need of answers. Perhaps that was because most of his questions at the moment pertained to his continued existence, after all he knew he was supposed to have 'died', and about his last companion. He wondered for a moment why his song, as the Ood had said, continued.

"Doctor." Ood Sigma approached him, tentacles on his face ever as disconcerting but eyes filled with wisdom, "It has been long years since our last meeting. Generations have been born and most from our time have died." Sigma tilted his head for a moment eyes narrowing in an almost human expression of thoughtfulness and regard.

"How long has it been?" The Doctor asked eyes wandering over the rising structures of the glacial precipice.

"Nearly three hundred years from the time of the DoctorDonna," Sigma replied, "Do you like our creations Doctor. It has taken many but we are long lived."

The Ood's ever shortened pattern of speaking and their habit of never saying more than what needed to be said would have been annoying to some but to the Doctor, their absolute honesty was refreshing. All the same he felt a bit of his shell slip away at the memories.

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair for a moment, "Yes, your society has grown." His answer was distant as he thought, "Was it you that called me here?"

The Ood's silence stretched on for a while and then he nodded hesitantly, "In a manner of speaking, the Ood brought you here. It seems that your life is not what it should have been and the Elder is most troubled by this."

The Doctor nodded again, his brow furrowed in deliberation of this fact. It appeared that he was not the only one to think it odd.

"Does he want me to sit with him again then?" he asked quietly his mind still miles inside himself.

"He would much like your audience, yes," Sigma answered calmly.

"Well then, take me to the bloke," the Doctor piped up feigning enthusiasm.

Ood Sigma stared at him oddly for a moment and then he remembered that the Oods lacked a sense of humor. His comment was probably construed as rude, not that he cared, most generally he came across as rude anyway. The representative of the Ood lead him away from the high cliff face and over the bridge spanning the bluish crevice. His mind wandered, remembering again with a pang of irritation, Donna's laugh. He almost growled, almost, but frustration was no way to get away from his own mind, his own guilt as he remembered how, even on this snow covered planet with its frigid temperatures, she had loved it more than her own home.

His internal musings were cut short as he realized her was far behind Sigma. Taking a few quick steps he caught up again, his lagging having gone unnoticed.

The path curved left then right and then again down through a snowy valet toward a cavern finely carved into the ice. Inside it the ice creaked and groaned as the glacier progressed on its path toward whatever see existed on this planet. Water dripped as the ice melted with the warm radiating from deep inside the tunnel. The Doctor observed the intricately carved symbols along the walls noticing and interpreting them as note and phrases of many of the Ood Songs. The beautiful music floated through his mind as he walked. The third brain must have been somewhere deep under the ice. For he could feel it's presence radiating through the solidified water below him.

A fire's warm glow welcomed them as they reached the many tiered cavern in the end of the cliff side's depression. The Doctor followed Sigma to the circle of Ood surrounding the small fire, down the many layers of ice to the very center, where the Elder of the Ood sat, chanting in rhythm with each crack and pop of the flames. He approached them quietly, the circle of Ood and then Elder waiting so as not to break they're ritual. The rhythm stopped and the wavering of the fire change but he took no notice to this as the elder extended a hand to him, directing him to the hole in the circle at his side.

"Oh," The Doctor commented, momentarily bemused, "You were expecting me."

"Yes, Doctor, we were." The Elder replied his calm monotone steady and firm, "But we expected another as well."

The Doctor narrowed his eyes, brow wrinkling in thought as he sat. His brown trench coat folded out around him as he crossed his legs taking the hands of the Elder and another.

"You now dream with us, Time Lord, as you have done before, you join our song."

The Ood song, entered him as it always had but now it forged pathways through his already complex mind. The sensation that should have been unpleasant, was the least disturbing to him as his Time Lord mind found ways to accommodate for the rerouting of neurons. He didn't have to be human, he could be any species he wanted and for that he needed to change brains easily. And that is what he did.

Words and images flooded him each one no more than a flash of brilliant light behind his closed eyelids. In the wakeful sleep his consciousness occupied he saw the Time Lords he had so recently banished and saw, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the planet of Gallifrey orbiting the sun of the solar system. The massive planet dwarfed all of the others around it save for the gas giants.

Then it changed, showing him images from his memories, of Donna, each showing him, with increasing intensity along her path as his companion to the time where she became a fellow Time Lord. And then he saw her, in the alley, a time that was not his own recollection but the recollection of someone else or perhaps of no one. She was struggling, panicking and there were figures of the Master surrounding her trying to capture her. And then, quite suddenly light pulsed from her and they all dropped to the ground as heavy as boulders. If the Doctor had seen this sight himself, his jaw might have actually dropped open. Had he calculated wrong? Had he jumped to conclusions too soon to make a correct assumption? Had he mind just been making the transition from human to Time Lord and needed to adjust? Wilfred had said that she was fighting it, fighting the wipe he'd given her memory but could she really have remembered it all even for a brief second without it killing her? And then he saw them, Donna and Shawn on their wedding day and then later on the date of their daughter's birth. At least he assumed it must have been their daughter's birth but there was something eerily familiar about that child. The red hair was nothing to bother him but the skin and the eyes did, a light smattering of pale freckles covered the little girl's face and her skin was pale, too pale to be Shawn's. Then her eyes, her eyes were a dark chocolatey color but not a black brown like Mr. Temple's either, they were a warm gold brown.

The Doctor pondered the girl for a moment before noticing the sad and sorrowful expression on his former best friends face. Once again he saw her clutch her head and collapse, her hand over the baby's chest. He chewed on his lip for a moment as the image faded concern filling him. He saw Donna again, later talking to a teacher in a classroom, a little red-headed girl sitting next to her staring thoughtfully out the window. The girl said something and pointed out the window. Donna looked and expression of non-recognition passing over her features for a few moments. The Doctor looked out the window too, staring at the sight of his own Police Box sitting in the schoolyard.

He let the hands of the Oods go breaking the connection. The Elder stared at him strangely for a moment and then went on to speak.

"You see what we've seen, Doctor. You cannot delay the DoctorDonna needs you now that the temple is missing," The Elder spoke solemnly and with assured certainty, "Your end was to come but it has changed. For some reason, your tenth incarnation was needed alive and the universe changed its mind. Now it is all to chance, Time Lord. We cannot see what you will bring, we can only for see what must come to be."

"I'm in flux," The Doctor stood burying his hands in his hair, trying to compute the information he'd been given but he could not make sense of it. How could he possibly have made so many mistakes?

Donna was Donna Temple-Noble now, mother of one, daughter of Sylvia Noble and grand-daughter of Wilfred Mott. Well, until a week ago that was true; now she was simply Donna Noble again, sitting in black in a church cemetery, alone and unnoticed by anyone. He'd gone missing, he had, disappeared in the blink of an eye and not shown up until late Friday evening. She didn't know why she knew it, but with his death, something was terribly wrong. Something in the universe had shifted.

Normally she would have asked her granddad but she's long since given up on asking him things. Donna hadn't gotten a straight word out of him about astronomical anomalies since she had forgotten those sick months of her life now over seven years ago. Certain things caused a stirring of memories almost as though they were forgotten dreams suddenly returning to the for ground of her mind for a few brief seconds. And then there were the suddenly bursts of brilliance at random times that she could not explain. With each of these things came sadness though. Incredible, painful sadness, almost like the loss of her husband. She allowed herself to stare at his grave for a while longer and then she gathered herself, wrapping and arm over her daughter's shoulders and gripping her tightly. Her head ached again and she could see the memories vague outline overlaying her vision of the rare sun that lit the cemetery.

Donna's hand rested over the six year-old's chest lightly and she could feel the beating of the girl's right heart. She shouldn't have lived as she did. She should have died moments after birth but, Catherine hadn't. Catherine Noble was a strong child and Donna knew it. She was clever too, her mind operating beyond any IQ test the school's associates gave her. At the age of two she had tested on a secondary school level of understanding and cognition.

"Katie," she bent down to the little girl as they reached the car, placing her hands on the girls shoulders, "Catherine Martha Rose Noble, I'm so sorry that you have to go through all of this. But we're going to be strong aren't we? We're going to make it." Donna smiled at her daughter.

She never knew why she had felt it to be so important to name the girl those names but something inside her told her that is was right. Most of the time she spent trying to move on with her life but in reality she spent most of the time searching for the truth. Donna wanted answers and couldn't get them from anyone else but herself. Shadows rested in her mind like words on the tip of her tongue.

"I know. I'm strong and you're strong. And just because Daddy's gone doesn't mean he's really gone," Catherine replied matter of factly though she still seemed very downcast, "Besides, he isn't my Dad anyway. I did love him though, he was a great father and he played his part well. I think he knew the truth too though." The girl walked over to the car and pulled open the passenger door readying herself to hop into the seat.

Donna stared at the little girl open mouth for a moment and then she close her jaw, grasping Catherine's shoulders, "What do you mean, you don't think he was your father?" _That's completely impossible. She cannot be anyone's but his. And yet there were the two hearts. _A sharp pain twinged in her head again as she felt her mind taking action to protect herself from something.

"Well, I never looked very much like him," she began, "and he always seemed to be lightly irritated when he was around me, just a little bit, not a lot. But it was still there." Catherine smiled "And I have really pale skin too."

"No baby, your father died two days ago," she denied though she had no concrete proof that her daughter's father had died that short time ago. Despite the memories in her mind that usually made her doubt her grip on life, she felt absolutely certain that this child had to be Shawn's there was no other way.

Catherine looked at her appraisingly and then the girl's hands came forward pressing against her temples. Her head was cocked to one side as she studied Donna, her mother, as though searching for something. Donna looked back at her, the space behind her eyes seemingly building in pressure, heat flooding her head forcing her to blink from the burning pain of it all. Catherine took her hands away, biting her lip as though she knew what her mother had felt.

"I'm sorry for hurting you, mommy." She stepped forward and hugged Donna.

Donna sat in one position for a few second stunned by her own daughter's behavior. Then she wrapped her arms around the paper-thin, ginger-headed child and held her tightly. It seemed as though it lasted for several moments but possibly longer and possibly shorter. When Donna stood and helped her daughter into the car seat, her knees were coated in dist from the gravel and felt like she'd been on that little cemetery lane for hours. The temp climbed into the little blue car, wondering for a moment that is was still functioning and drove back to her little home in Chiswick.

Sylvia Noble had insisted upon them moving back home when Shawn had disappeared a week previously. She had told them that in order for her to be certain they were safe, she would have to have them there. She didn't want anyone coming for them. Donna might not have been displeased to be living with her grandfather again but she most certainly had not missed the incessant nagging she'd always gotten from her mother. No matter what she was doing, it was wrong. She put the bread away wrong, she was raising her daughter wrong, she was not leading her life in a productive direction. She was the only person in the world since that 80's that was unemployed. The list kept going but throughout her years she'd learned to ignore the talk and chatter about all of these things and focus on her own thoughts.

Donna had recently noticed that there was an image growing on her mind that seemed to be becoming clearer with each passing day. It didn't seem as though it was something of her imagination either, but rather it was something concrete and of substance. It was square and blob like with little arms and legs but each time she grasped at the concept of it, it would slip away. Yet this memory did not cause her to feel pain as she had with other. It seemed almost as though the fog was beginning to lift, like someone had breathed on a mirror and was rubbing the fug away with their finger or fist.

a/n- hey, I just thought I'd post this. Don't know when I'll get the next one finished but it isn't bloody likely it will be up tomorrow seeing as I have a ten hour shift as a stable hand to attend, but I would hope it would be up in the next week. A big thanks to SchmEthan for my first stellar review. And I hope I'm capturing the characters personalities in this one. I realize that Donna is not fiery like she should be but at the same time, she is for the most part, with her daughter in this one so she really wouldn't be cursing and yelling like she is known to.


	3. Blue on the Horizon

Chapter 2

Blue on the Horizon

The indigo car turned the corner with ease sliding into Donna's new parking spot in front of Mahoney's Accounting. Catherine's parting words to her that morning had been, "Well mum, I hope that Clom had gotten a bit more interestin' otherwise today gonna be a bit boring." A nagging suspicion in the back of mind told her that the so-called, 'Clom' was not her daughter's imaginary friend. Donna stepped out of the car shutting the door harshly behind her.

The first day of work was always the worst, the most monotonous jobs became mountainous piles of nerve-racking feats to complete. It never did seem as though she would ever get used to using a copier on the first day, nor did she think that she would ever understand why no matter where she went, she was always the coffee girl. Always.

She held her black leather bag in one hand and pulled on the hem of her black pantsuit straightening it. Donna entered the office of the accountant, placing a hand lightly on the door handle and pushing inward with a twist. This time was different. Not a single person in the office looked up. A teenager sat filing her nails looking bored while her mother waited in a chair next to her. There was man at the reception desk, the place where she ought to have been just over an hour ago, obviously waiting for someone to greet him. He leaned against the counter doodling on the outside of his checkbook.

The ginger haired temp hurried behind the desk and sat down in the chair dumping her bag and keys to the right of the mouse. The man seemed so immersed in his doodling that he paid her rapid movements no mind until she cleared her throat.

"May I help you sir?" she asked politely affecting a pleasant tone and sitting up rather straight. So many years she'd spent endlessly as a receptionist, and now the job begun again.

"You could have helped me by being here when the office opened. I am fifteen minute late for work," he groaned, "I had an appointment to meet with Mr. M. Mahoney today and 9:30 but I guess we'll just move that appointment ahead to ten o-clock since it seems you are incapable of being here on time."

"Your name sir," Donna's voice was less pleasant this time and, because of the recent emotional turmoil she had been through and also because she was in no mood to be dealing with complaining clients with a migraine growing in her head again, she felt like a few more minutes would give her reason enough to either hit him, or begin to use her rather foul arsenal of language to insult the wanker's head off.

"Jeremiah Smith III," he answered snappishly and when he received no response, he became irritated again.

Donna's mind suddenly went haywire. She closed her eyes against the rush of unexpected thought. Images flashed through her mind too fast for her to see and she was unable to comprehend their meaning. The migraine that had started that morning now became a blinding hot pain. She sat for a moment, eyes squeezed tight shut against the light that came through the glass front doors as the headache ebbed. Vaguely in the background she realized that the man was yelling, probably at her, but the words were indiscernible.

Donna felt tremors run through her arms and then, without warning, the heat in her head burst. She heard glass breaking, electrical sparks flew across her vision and then everything became dark. She could still hear; people were screaming, crying but she had no way to stop it. Images flashed across her mind again. The name Smith, so common a name and yet such a catalyst, like a fire under a test tube it had heated her mind setting off a reaction that burst forth in memories long forgotten, hidden by a blind haze. The images vanished leaving her feeling alone and empty. She didn't remember standing but now she collapsed to the floor incoherently calling out for a doctor. Or at least to the paramedics called to the scene that was what it seemed but Donna's Time Lord Mind was reaching out for the one thing it knew better than anything else, The Doctor.

Catherine sat at her desk plucking at the eraser on the end of her pencil and staring blankly out the classroom window. Something large and wet collided with the back of her head and she growled quietly turning her head to look at Jimmy Curry and his spit wads. She glared and then faced the teacher again, too mature to stick her tongue out and too mature to enjoy such a loss of decorum. The teacher however spotted her distracted student and called the class to attention.

"I see that Miss Noble does not see it fit to pay attention to the lesson like everyone else," The falsely sweet voice of the primary school teacher, Mrs. Gregory stated neutrally, "Miss Noble, would you like to tell us what is so important behind you and why it is held of such higher esteem than my lesson."

Catherine noticed the blank looks on the other kid's faces, and saw without much surprise they looked completely confused and terrified. She smiled a pleasant smile, showing her straight, child teeth, and batting her milk chocolate eyes for a moment. Mrs. Gregory seemed unphased by the act. In fact the teacher only seemed to become more agitated.

"Miss Noble, do not play coy with me. You'd best wipe that smirk off of your face, before I call your mother,"

"I'm not smirking miss; I was just smiling. Jimmy shot me with a spit-ball in the back of my head and I turned around to see what it was." Catherine answered in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Miss Noble, I will not be having such disrespectful arrogance in my classroom," Mrs. Gregory pointed at the door as she became angry.

Even her bun seemed to show it, loosening a bit, a few stray strands of hair poking free from the tight coil and flying willy-nilly over her head. Catherine cocked her head to the side for a moment taking not that from this vantage point she look very much like the statue of liberty in the New York harbor. She'd been there once, with her 'father' and mother. They'd stood on American shores for a few days and then returned home to Chiswick.

"I'll see myself out," Catherine's voice possessed attitude now as she became bored with the teacher's fuming. She stood and walked slowly out the classroom door to sit in the hall with her textbooks.

They weren't important to her, in fact the thoughts that occupied her mind at the moment were not that of school at all but rather of the mathematical calculations that went in to forming a time vortex. She bit her lip for a moment thinking of the two hearts beating her chest, hearing the four beats like the drums of an African band, low and wild. She rested her head against the wall running the calculations through a second time, the string of numerical formulas and variable equations making perfect sense to her small and young mind.

Then quite suddenly she felt blackness, darkness and then a bright light covered her vision. Something, or someone, was coming, and very, very fast. She stood and walked to the door of the school, hands in her pockets as she looked down at her tiny canvas shoes. The ginger-haired girls stood by the door to the play-yard watching and waiting. There, by the tree appeared a box. A blue one. Tall and squarish but that was not all she saw, or rather felt. She didn't know what to call it but a disturbance; the air sort of rippled for a moment and then it stopped again. Catherine smiled as a man stepped from the machine and looked around.

The six year-old gave the door a shove, books and bag forgotten as she walked out onto the cement beyond the door.

"Oi!" Catherine yelled loudly, "Where do you get off popping out of thin air like that?!"

The brown-haired man looked at her eyes narrowed, and shoved his hands in his pocket. He walked forward across the schoolyard and stood by the door with her looking down at the three foot tall skinny, red-headed six year-old.

"Well, you gonna say something?" she asked, brown eyes looking up at him questioningly.

"Yes," he replied, "Why aren't you in school?"

This was not the climax she'd been hoping for. She had wanted him to ask who she was or why she was not bothered by his appearance. The girl shrugged.

"I already know it anyway. I'm not learning anything. I got in trouble and so they sent me into the hall. And then I felt an atmospheric disturbance and thought I'd come out here to check it out. And then you show up in your spaceship, well time-space ship, and so I yelled at you," she paused and then asked excitedly, "Can I see inside?"

Without waiting for an answer, she ran to the TARDIS and pushed open the door experiencing with increased wonder, the sight of the space inside it, with its many dimensional living spaces, she explored taking her good old time inside it. Catherine had nothing better to do and for once, she was actually having to think about what everything was rather than just doing it.

The Doctor leaned against the control panel of the TARDIS, staring blankly at the monitor without any desire to go anywhere in particular. Normally on a day like this, he would voyage to the golden beaches of Veronas- 4 or visit the Orion Nebula to watch the birth of stars, but he didn't feel like doing something completely aimless.

A blip sounded from the computer monitor and he refocused his gaze on it. A spaceship was requesting landing access to the local planetary system of Remarr Grad, the ninth planet. Normally the TARDIS did not alert him to such things and he wondered for a moment if it was malfunctioning. His mind ran through all of the possible scenarios for a moment and then decided that he would run a scan of the ships contents and occupants.

Three buttons he pressed and then he brought up the little ship on the screen. It was reddish in color and really not large enough for more than two people to fly in. It carried three living organisms to interest him. One was a dog, a normal Earth canine. He raised an eyebrow at this for dogs in space were not common as often the changes in pressure and speed were too much for the dog's brain. The next was a human male in his late teens, the scan brought up a picture of a brown haired boy in a shirt that read, "Suck it!" in large white letters. It was the third that caught his attention. Seconds later he was typing in as many things a he possibly could, rerunning the scans of the individual and then finding place of origin.

"Species" the screen read aloud as though sick of his prolonged analysis of the individual, "Time Lord. Origin Planet: Recently colonized Messaline. Name: Generated Anomaly, but referred to as…"

"Jenny," He finished

The Doctor switched off the monitor and calibrated the coordinates for the planet to his left landing, with no regard for position, on the planets main docking bay. She would land here, all entering ships had to on Remarr Grad ninth and then could travel in the upper atmospheric reaches to get to new places. He pushed open the door stepping out into the bluish light.

He stood in front of the TARDIS for a while, leaning against its side and watching several people arriving and departing on intergalactic shuttles. The bustle was much like that of an Earth airport, filled with people of all races, genders and species. Looking to his left the Doctor spotted the transit center and saw a woman with what looked like seventeen small children around her and decided that it would be better to wait until they cleared off before approaching the desk.

"Permission Granted to Alpha-Sigma-Delta-Pi Interspace Ferrari-craft. Landers, report to deck twenty-seven for direction, I repeat report to deck twenty-seven for direction." The speaker went silent and the Doctor quickly followed the group of men in red suits to the designated landing platform.

He heard the craft even before they reached the place. The bright red ship dropped down onto dock and the engines shut down. The Doctor broke into a run, red converses flashing in the bright light as he brought them closer to the dock. The hatch on the side opened and Jenny leapt out grinning from ear to ear, laughing at something he'd not heard. The Doctor stopped for a moment, not having prepared himself for the sight of his daughter whom he had previously thought dead. He crossed his arms and smiled.

"Violation of landing protocol, Deck twenty-seven. Deck Police take violators into custody. Deck Police take violators into custody." The announcer came over the speaker again.

The Doctor looked around for a moment and then walked up to her flashing his notepad to the people who had been authorized to assist in the landing.

"P.I. John Smith, don't worry about these two. Cheeky kids always run away. Followed them all the way from Earth. Their parents what them back something terrible," he kept on moving past them toward the two teens on the loading dock taking note that the mouse haired boy seemed to be coaxing a woozy looking yellow dog out of the Red Craft.

Jenny laughed as the dog still stubbornly refused and then reached forward to push it the rest of the way out. Reaching into her pocket she produced a leash and what looked like a set of car-keys. The Doctor, still walking toward his daughter almost stopped dead in his tracks as the red ship shrunk to the size of a baseball. The blonde girl bent and picked it up, sliding it into the shoulder bag she carried.

"Violation of protocol on deck twenty-seven. Unauthorized technology witnessed. Unauthorized technology witnessed."

The Doctor sighed as he noticed the two teens were paying no attention to the warnings on the speaker. He quickened his step, noting the six intergalactic police moving in their direction. If he got their first her could have them "in his custody" long before the cops got to their location.

"I love all of this travel," the teen in the 'Suck it' t-shirt commented running a hand through his slightly over-long hair.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes for a moment, the boy's features becoming more familiar to him as he approached. It couldn't be…it was too much of a coincidence that his daughter would meet HER son and make him her companion. And it was even more unlikely that any child of Sarah Jane's would be wearing a shirt with such an obscene colloquialism written upon it. Not that he would have minded the saying if it hadn't been so out of character for the boy he had met two years ago. Now he wondered whether Luke Smith was rebelling.

He stood nearly ten feet from his daughter when she finally spotted him. Her eyes were large, opening in wonder and then, with a squeal of delight and something that sounded like the word, "Daddy." The overly excitable teenage 'time lady' hurled herself forward into his arms. The doctor caught her, hugging her tightly, and immense warmth and happiness spreading through him as he remembered that time when he had told her that he would take her with him. And for once, the part of his hearts that ached with an immense longing for things he had lost so long ago did not seem so cold or painful anymore.

When Jenny finally let The Doctor go, he was not sure if his body would recover from the lack of oxygen it had received. He held her at arms' length, taking in everything that was his daughter, a half smile growing on his face as he studied her appraisingly. Then his eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed a red-mark peaking out of her shirt collar. The Time Lord licked his lips and then smiled fully at her.

"I thought I'd never see you again." Jenny commented, oblivious to his focus and his less than pleased attitude, "I've been searching for two years. I went to Earth cause I thought you'll have to be there sometime because Donna has to visit her family. And then I thought about where they lived and I made my way to Chiswick. But she was there and you weren't, and…" she cut off her stream of talking as she noticed her father's downcast expression.

"The Doctor is your father?!" Luke stepped forward at that moment looking between the two of them, arms shoved in his pockets. A leash connected him to the bewildered dog, which began yapping, it's yellow shaggy tail wagging as it sniffed the Doctor's shoes, "Shut it, Hubble!" he commanded and then dog went silent immediately, lying down across the doctor's feet.

"What's happened Dad?" Jenny asked concernedly looking up at him one lip tucked between her teeth as she chewed on it.

"It's complicated," The Doctor replied, attempting to return his mind to the more pressing matters such as the fact that the six police were now on the platform with them, "Come on, we haven't got all day and I need to be moving on from here. You two and the dog can come with me." He ushered them to walk before him so to any passerby it looked like he had them in custody.

They were halfway back to the TARDIS when Luke spoke up again.

"His name's Hubble by the way, like the telescope," he interjected.

"Ah, creative," The Doctor replied, "Knew the man too. Ingenious really…talk about the ways that the government covered up his experiments." He scoffed slightly

Luke turned to look over his shoulder at the Time Lord escorting them. The Doctor did not respond to the perplexed expression on the boy's face other than to raise an eyebrow. Jenny started to laugh and his response was a smile. He let them both go as they reached the TARDIS, opening the doors with a push, he ushered them inside.


	4. Explaining Time n stuff

Concerning Luke: Luke is Sarah Jane Smith's son from The Stolen Earth and Journey's End. (he is also a regular in 'The Sarah Jane Adventures'. Here he is three years older than he was there. As I recall he was fourteen. I could be wrong but those episodes make me so sad I can't watch them again. Anyway… here he is kinda seventeen as he is an archetype that was created as an adolescent. Coincidentally, Jenny was also born as an adolescent and they met up when she went to Earth in search of her father. As Luke is incredibly bright in the mechanical field, he and Jenny teamed up and are as vaguely hinted at in this chapter, somewhat romantically involved. Together they developed the shrinking mechanism for the Interspace Ferrari-craft, using both calculations of mass/space and Luke's knowledge of the interworking of advanced technology. So there you go.

Concerning Catherine: As many of you would have probably guessed, Catherine is the Doctor's daughter. No, the Doctor and Donna were not secretly romantically involved during the series, as they said constantly, they were really good friends who could eventually have been something more I think, but that's beside the point. Catherine is the product of the excess regenerative energy Donna took into her body. It took about two year for that energy to manifest itself giving for the time it took for Donna to marry Shawn Temple. (I will explain his death eventually) In a way Catherine could be considered a clone, but not in a literal sense as she consists of both Donna's and then Doctor's DNA. She is a child genius, obviously, among humans because she is half Time Lord and understands the way time and space intersect.

Concerning Donna: Ah one of the hard ones. At present, Donna is struggling more and more with the return of her memories. Certain things, like the name Smith or the mentions of random planets her daughter makes, at as triggers or catalysts for her mind. I tried to depict that her Time Lord mind is fighting what the Doctor did to it but this time coming on slowly unless suddenly triggered. As the consciousness moves into her slowly, bringing back her memories, her body is beginning to adapt to the change. She also has had random bursts of otherworldly understanding throughout the past eight years, that cannot be explained by the kind of person she is. After this collapse in the last chapter, things will begin to heat up even more and you will begin to see DoctorDonna emerging. Also I feel I should point out that Donna does not appear andy older than she does in the series even though, estimating she was about thirty-thirty five in the series, she would be somewhere around forty give or take. This is because the regenerative energy, in addition to creating Catherine, manifested itself in slowly changing the chemical balances in her body making her even more of a Time Lady than she was in "Journey's End." She is also physically becoming a Time Lord.

Concerning Time Passage: This is the kicker because I had to find some way for everyone's timelines to fit together in the two years the Doctor has travelled alone. The Doctor can travel through time. (Well, duh) but the others can't. When he travels he's not only going through space but also time and therefore he's in a different era each time he lands. Jenny has been travelling around through space, visiting and helping new worlds for three years and met Luke about six months prior to her meeting with her father.


	5. Time Lords

Chapter 3

Time Lords (or Ladies)

Donna could hear a steady beeping but her head ached so badly she could not bring herself to think of what caused the noise. Her mind would not clear and the feelings she'd been fighting for the past eight years, the feelings of loss and of the fogginess of her mind seemed to have spread to encompass the whole thing. She opened her blue eyes and stared with an immense concentration up at the ceiling of the hospital room. It was white, blank and for some reason that white blankness was helping her. She felt as though her heart was beating too rapidly, too erratically, and she took a few large breaths to slow it, returning her heart to a normal rhythm.

Something wasn't right about the air here. It seemed different than real air, somehow lightened and smoother. No particles of smog and car fumes were here. The disinfectant smell was missing too and Donna could feel her mind beginning to put the pieces together in an amazingly rapid thought process. This was no hospital. But then why was her grandfather holding her hand and looking so bloody worried? And if not a hospital than where?

Donna shifted and then closed her eyes feeling sick as her head felt as though it was going to explode.

_Again, _she though dubiously.

"Donna?"

Her grandfather's voice entered her thoughts stopping them where they were and she felt the clarity begin to fade again as black spots formed on the corners of her eyes. Something was changing, something very really and very…

_Foreign she _thought, but it was not the right word, No… the word was_ Alien!_

She shifted again struggling to sit up, to reassure her Grandfather with one of her tight hugs and a light kiss to his bald head but something restrained her. Donna fought the hands that pressed on her shoulders but the person there was strong despite the gentle pressure he applied. She lifted her hands and smacked the offender's with a harsh blow that would have any normal person recoiling.

"Donna, I need you to relax,"

That voice, she knew that voice. It was so familiar and yet the name to go with it was so far from her memory. She strained into the recesses of her mind pulling from that foggy part of her brain recollections of grandeur that she had been unable to release before. Donna remembered a man, with brown hair that stuck up at odd angles and a trench coat of even lighter brown which, despite whatever conditions he faced, be it desert or glacier, sometimes both at the same time, he rarely took off. She remembered running, and obscenely large amount of running. But still no name came to her until she managed to land a blow on him that made him pull his hand away in pain.

"Ow!" the fully grown man complained like a four year-old child, "What'd you do that for?!"

Donna pushed herself up to look at him, spots dancing across her eyes as she struggled with consciousness and the black abyss that longed to pull her back into its slumber.

"What did I do that for?" she started and The Doctor seemed to realize he'd said the wrong thing. "What did _**I **_do THAT for?" she hit him again because taking her anger at losing six months of her life out on the man who had occupied them was rather cathartic, "You stupid wanker! You bloody, no good, lazy arsed, time travelling, Spaceman! You go on and on about know _everything_ that happens in the universe. I spend six months suffering through your arrogance and then you have the audacity to ask what did _I _do _THAT _for?" Donna's blue eyes blazed with anger at him, "You have to be blooming daft to not know why I hit you."

"Donna…" The Doctor was apparently trying to mediate her reaction to her recollections.

"Oh don't you try that! You'll stand there an you'll hear me out Spaceman because I bloody a have something to say to you and nothing you try will stop me from saying it," Donna glared at him for a moment, breathing heavily to catch her breath and then she continued, force of her words lost slightly by the angry tears that had formed in her eyes and spilled down over her cheeks.

Wilfred Mott had seen the receiving end of his granddaughter's anger and once he was certain that she was alright, (and that her lungs and respiratory system were in full functioning order if not better,) he vacated the medical bay of the TARDIS to find his other red-headed relative.

"You took it all away. I begged you not to. I pleaded with you and you still took it!" she glowered, "I told you time and again that I never wanted to leave you, that my life was here as your companion, aboard the TARDIS, promised that I would never leave you …" she paused her breath hitching but Donna Noble held the tears at bay keeping the fire in her eyes blazing as brightly as her hair, "And you left me! You took my life and sent me back to be a temp for the remainder of my days. I suppose I was just a temp here too, just filling in until you could find someone better,"

"No Donna… No, that…" the Doctor's voice was quiet patient and yet his eyes were filled with guilt and he could scarcely look at the woman he'd hurt so badly.

"Shut it, Spaceman!" she growled dangerously and then noted that that seemed to stop him. For a moment she saw the burden in his eyes and considered yielding but then and new wash of anger overcame her, "I suppose you thought I was an easy fix, gullible, amiable, unintelligent. Well I have news for you, Spaceman," she said that last word mockingly, almost jeering at him.

Donna had stood herself now and was now leaning against the table with her hip while gesturing wildly with her hands. Her hands made the words all the more impressionable and painful and the ex-temp knew it. She was about to continue but stopped as the Doctor approached her and took hold of her shoulders.

"Donna Noble," his voice shook and she could tell he was angry and shaken by her accusations. Here was a man she had not thought it possible for herself to upset and yet he stood before her, hands gripping her shoulders as though he was afraid she would run away from him and never listen, as though he was afraid she would slip away, "you are the most brilliant, clever woman I have ever met. You always have been, just as you are now and you will always be. I would never use you, nor would I anyone else and you shame me by suggesting such a thing."

His grip tightened impossibly more until Donna felt as though her shoulders would break. She looked back at him, all that hurt, confusion, anger and frustration of the past eight years shining in her eyes behind a small wall of tears that threatened to over flow at any moment.

"Then why," she asked, bitterness flowing through her words, "Why did you ignore me when you knew I would rather die in my glory than return to my life as a temp not knowing anything had ever happened? Why would you do that?"

Donna saw she had struck the Doctor speechless. His lips moved but no words came out and her seemed to be struggling for the right phrase. She glowered at him, daring him to tell her a lie, daring him to speak a dishonest word. Instead the Doctor fixed his eyes on hers and found his word.

"Because, Donna Noble, I am selfish," he answered, "and because I am selfish, I couldn't live in a world where I knew I had let my own friend go mad and die, in a world where I had let such cruelty take over her and capture her. I could go on knowing that there was something I could have done." The Doctor's eyes were more honest than she remembered and Donna found her anger relenting despite the iron will she had against it.

Donna pursed her lips, trying to keep herself from letting out a sob that threatened to overcome her. The Doctor seemed to sense this and released her shoulders pulling her to him and enfolding her in the kind of tight hug they had often shared before his had taken her mind. Her first instinct was to pull away and find a place to cry herself but she couldn't do it. Burrying her head in his shoulder, she let herself cry, wrapping her arms around the man that had changed her life.

Catherine wandered the TARDIS, small hands wandering over the control panel and tapping a few buttons on the screen before the computer bleeped at her. The Doctor was at one of the seats in the control room observing her motions. The little girl, though he had yet to notice, was examining him. She knew he was a Time Lord, the last of his kind and yet, as she watched his ponderous gaze, she wondered if that was true anymore.

The six year-old wound a finger in her hair while walking the others along the rim of the controls considering them. Tentatively, she stretched a finger forward and pressed one of the buttons. The monitor spun around to face her showing her and image. She smiled and then pressed another few buttons and then three levers. Catherine stepped back to admire her handiwork as the TARDIS jumped into the Time Vortex, with a whir of its internal huon core. She smirked at the Doctor who had jumped up to stop her fiddling. The tall skinny man was thrown backward into his seat nearly flipping over the back of it.

She had not expected the sudden jolt and collapsed to the floor smashing her elbow on one of the hard grate panels. Catherine tried to hang on to the panel for the rest of the ride fighting the urge to stop balling at the stinging in her elbow. The TARDIS stopped after a few minutes and a dog materialized from seemingly nowhere, bounding toward the little girl. Catherine laughed the pain in her elbow forgotten for the time being, and in fact forgotten forever as the skin knitted flawlessly back together.

"That's Hubble," the Doctor commented and then looked up as he saw Luke and Jenny emerge from one of the upper dimension rooms.

"Where are we?" Jenny called out, "I thought you said we wouldn't be travelling for a while. You said you had some things to take care of."

The Doctor gazed at his daughter for a moment reluctantly noting that she held hands with Luke rather tightly and then nodded, "I hadn't planned on going anywhere, but it appears that you and I are not the only Time Lords left." He gestured at Catherine who ignored his statement entirely, "The question is, where did she come from, and how did I find her?"

"That's two questions Dad," Jenny bounded down the steps into the central control room, towing Luke with her, "Who is she?" the blonde girl asked.

Catherine looked up indignant for being spoken of in such a manner, "I can supply that information myself," Jenny appeared affronted, "My name is Catherine Martha Rose Temple-Noble." She snapped, "I'm from Chiswick."

The little girl watched the Doctor choke and sit down rather hard on the bench behind him. She raised an eyebrow at him fixing him with a stare that reminded him very much of her mother. It demanded and answer for his reaction. The others in the room watched this with a sort of awed fascination until Jenny's bright and optimistic outlook on life interrupted the silence.

"Is Donna you mother then?" she asked, dropping Luke's hand excitedly.

"Yes Donna's my mother's name. My daddy's name was Shaun but her died… two days ago," Catherine commented, "I don't really think he was my dad though. We had so little in common. I look so different than he did too." She turned to look at the Doctor, "Actually," she quipped, studying him, "You and I share some genetic markers."

The Doctor did a doubletake, pulling his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and beginning to scan her.

"I knew it!" Jenny fairly shouted, "I knew that you and Donna were together."

The Doctor looked first at Catherine and then at Jenny and wondered for a few momentous minutes if there was anyway, his blonde daughter was correct about the red-heads parentage. There wasn't a way he could think of; Donna and he had never been together in that sense. Possibly they had flirted occasionally but only in the sense of friendly teasing.

"No, no Jenny, we were never together,"

Catherine glared at him as he stepped closer with the sonic device. She didn't enjoy having the little blue light pointed in her face and certainly did not enjoy the speculatory glances the blonde girl gave her. She couldn't help but note that while the girl seemed excited the boy who had been at her side, and the Doctor did not. The boy appeared annoyed with the commotion as though it had awakened him from a very good dream and the Doctor appeared perplex.

"Oi!" Catherine yelled at him pulling the sonic from his hand, "Stop bleeping me!"

She watched the older Time Lord stumble back in surprise before stepping forward and taking the screwdriver from her.

"You really are you mother's daughter," her muttered as he walked over to the consol and transferred the information on the screwdriver to the TARDIS' computer, tapping a few buttons on the screen.

Jenny and Catherine crowded around him at the monitor waiting for the results to come back. The six year-old watched Jenny as the excitable teen bounced on her heels waiting for the answers. The Doctor stepped away from the monitor and sat down on the bench heavily, eyebrows knitted together in a look of consternation. Jenny leaned over to look at the screen and then shouted ha!

"You lied to me," she jeered dancing around the consol, "My own father trying to cover up that he father one of his companion's children." She laughed teasingly.

"No Jenny, I didn't lie to you," The Doctor replied, his arms crossed as he looked at Catherine.

"I'm not that interesting," The red-head replied, "But I am a Time Lord, or whatever you call a female Time Lord."

He nodded in response still considering the possibilities of how she came to be. She wasn't a clone; she was a perfect mix of his DNA and Donna's but what he couldn't fathom was how she came to be. Catherine watch him thinking trying to read through his eyes what he was so deeply wondering. Jenny interrupted her view, bending down and petting Hubble on the head before sitting in front of her.

The blonde held out her hand with a flourish, "I'm Generated Anomaly but you can call me Jenny. I suppose you're my sister."

Catherine smiled, taking her proffered hand, "Catherine Martha Rose Noble, but you can call me Catherine, or Katie, or even Kate if you want."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Catherine," Jenny replied and then she turned to Luke. For once the child prodigy was looking confused, "Well come one over, Luke. She just a girl; it's not like she bites."

Catherine grinned and then added to her statement, "Much." She snapped her teeth in emphasis.

Luke made his way over to them looking at the madly giggling Jenny. She appeared to be enjoying herself immensely and that was what bothered him. Every time Jenny enjoyed herself too much something would happen. Catherine stood and offered a hand to him.

He took it, "Luke Smith. I'm your sister's," Luke glanced at the Doctor for a moment before continuing, "companion." He finished as though it had not been what he was going to say in the first place.

Jenny sighed, "Luke he already knows, just drop it. It's not like he's punishing us," she glanced at her father for a moment, "He has no right to anyway." She added quietly with a smirk.

Suddenly the Doctor was up and out of his seat typing and recalibrating the TARDIS' computer. His fingers flew across the button on the consol in no reasonable order as he made seemingly random calculations.

"No," he breathed, "No that shouldn't have happened." The Doctor looked at his latest child for a moment and then back at the monitor, "That's IT!" excitement raced through him." He spun in a circle, running around to the other side of the controls and resetting the coordinates to Earth, "The energy from the genetic meta-crisis, was more than just a generator for the clone of me. Something in Donna must have triggered her hormones when my DNA entered her body and mind," he pressed a few more buttons with great gusto, "Oh this is bloody brilliant!" he turned to Catherine, "How long has your mother been home on Earth?"

"Eight years," she replied listening to his ramblings for once not understanding a word somebody was speaking. Looking at her older sister, she saw the girl was equally confused.

"Delayed implantation… like a bear? Surely not," The Doctor leaned down and looked at the monitor again, "OOOHH!" he started, shaking his head, "Something must have triggered the genetic response setting the process in motion." He grimaced and muttered, "I don't think that would be very proper to say but now I understand," he looked at Catherine ponderously again, "but if there was energy left over from the meta-crisis then… what else will happen?"

Catherine watched him fiddle with the buttons on the consol, punching in coordinates and flipping dials. Jenny joined him, Luke at her side. The six year-old retreated slightly, disarmed by the fact that she was, for once, among equals, and sat down on the grating along one of the walls. Hubble joined her, dropping his head into her lap with a solemn groan that made her smile. She ran her hands through the golden retriever's long shaggy coat absently as she realized what had just taken place.

From her vantage point on the floor, she didn't find the rocking of the TARDIS nearly so alarming as it had been the first time. The Doctor was at the controls and with the help of his daughter, they were steering it with an unmatched expertise. Catherine wondered if it was something she'd be able to do one day or whether it had more to do with their mentalities.

The Doctor watched Luke for a while after they had boarded the TARDIS. Sarah Jane's boy had had the usual reaction, acting as though the sky was falling when he realized that the vessel was larger on the inside than on the outside. Jenny on the other hand had seemed positively enthralled with the space, immediately dumping her shoulder bag on the padded bench and fleeing up the spindly flights of stairs presumably to find herself a room.

He wandered through the central control room staring at the monitor, wondering whether or not to make the voyage he'd put off for the last two years. The Doctor had always known that his longing for the primitive Earth would eventually bring him back to its surface but he had planned to take many years to reach that point. Martha, he might see again but he had lost too much there with the mortality of humans. No matter how many people he met it always came back to them, short and brief as they may be, he found the species to be of the best quality and filled with so much more emotion and life than others.

Spinning a few dials, he set the coordinates of time and location hoping to land somewhere where meeting someone he knew was of a low probability. Time hurdled by him as he hit the button on the controls, forcing him to grip tightly onto the rim of them. When they finally stopped spinning through time, he was certain that the other passengers would not be pleased with him. Luke even appeared sick, though a part of the Doctor, the protective, father part, felt he deserved the nausea.

Jenny's head peaked out over a railing high above him. She looked irate.

"What did you just do?" she hollered down at him.

"I moved us through time. We're on Earth," he answered and checked to make certain his sonic screwdriver was still in his pocket before he made his way to the door.

"Where are you going?" she called hurrying down the stairs.

The Doctor smiled at her for a moment and then said, with an ironic assurance to his voice, "To walk among the dust."

a/n- Well I realized that a lot of my writing just lends itself to Donna quotes. Personally that was one of my favorite lines in the whole series along with the, 'You're not falling, you're flying' line in the end of 'Voyage of the Damned' I also like the description of Gallifrey the Doctor makes.

Anyway, I'd love it if someone would tell me if this story is getting too angsty or not. I have an idea for it and frankly I'm surprised I haven't gotten there yet but hey who knows? This story may not be as romantic as I originally was going to make it. You see, despite my personal views, *cough* yeah Doctor/Donna *cough* I actually enjoy the dynamic friendship they share in the series.

I promise myself I wouldn't ask but review, Please, Please, Oh please! *nags you*

Agh again with the Donna quotes!

Tabitha of MoonAurora

P.S. This is what happens when your memory operates like a tape recorder.


	6. Oh My God

Oh My God

Wilfred had walked among the stars before, only once and yet that was enough for him to realize that despite everything he thought was concrete was all relative. Now as he watched his great-granddaughter run around the control room of the TARDIS chased by a blonde teenager, he wondered about how everything would turn out in the end. He remembered the Doctor telling him that it was nearly time for him to move on and yet, as the oddities of the world would have it, the Time Lord had continued on. And the more the old man knew about the Time Lords and about his great-granddaughter the more he began to doubt that he had any firm grasp on the reality of the world.

(DOCTOR WHO)

Donna wiped the tears from her eyes sucking in a few breaths of air to stabilize her. The Doctor still had her clutched against him this time as though he was try to reassure himself that she was still there. She carefully detached herself from his tight hold, backing away until there was a more comfortable distance between them. She still did not trust him and was nowhere near forgiving him but his comfort had been useful to the renewal of their friendship.

She turned to leave the medical bay, her newly reshapen mind easing her passage through the TARDIS. She knew exactly where she had to go but then a hand stopped her, holding onto her wrist. Donna turned back around to slap him again, this time out of irritation but the look on his face was so serious she could not bring herself to do it.

"What is it, Spaceman?" Donna asked attempting to make her voice as strong as it used to be.

The Doctor had always liked to hear himself talk but when she looked at him this time, he gave her no response verbally. He reached forward and pressed a cool hand above the right and left side of her sternum.

"You might go by the name of Doctor but that doesn't give you the right to put your hands wherever you want them!" Donna tried to back up but stopped at the looked he gave her.

"That's impossible," he commented moving his hand to the other side of her sternum and then pulling out the sonic screwdriver, "Impossible!"

Donna followed him as he ran from the medical bay and into the rest of the TARDIS. She walked after him hesitantly taking in the 'spaceship's' details and reveling in the fact that she was there again, walking among its multi-dimensional halls. She could hear the hum of the main room, and the whir of the mechanics but somehow it all seemed so much louder, so much more present. There was something else too. She didn't know what planet they were on, or whether it was even still Earth but she could tell that wherever they were, it was around three in the afternoon. She also knew the time signature of what year it was.

"No!" The Doctor's voice echoed down the hallway, "That's just not possible!"

Donna walked into the main room and watched the Doctor at his controls, spinning a lever and changing something on the screen. As she approached she noticed he was working with a body scanner, one that he seemed to think was malfunctioning by the way he was fussing with things. He got down on the grated floor and climbed under the consol pulling of a panel and checking some wires.

"If you're trying to fix something, Spaceman, you're just making it worse," she commented watching the screen sputter out and then light up again.

"It's not possible," he answered.

"Oh I think it bloody well is possible, Doctor," Donna replied leaning on the rim of the consol in front of a screen she'd not yet looked at, "How long has it been, eight years, and someone still hasn't knocked you down a few notches? You still think you're the most brilliant thing walking?"

The Doctor popped out from under the controller, pushing the panel back up into place. He appeared to be confused as to whether or not she was joking. He smiled at her for a moment and when Donna didn't return the smile he leapt up, smacking his he off of the metal. Donna tried not to break her serious and slightly demanding expression.

"No," he hurried over to the monitor slightly drunkenly, "That's not what I meant." The Doctor moved her aside pressing a few buttons on the monitor. When nothing happened he smacked it, "This is what I meant."

Donna stepped in closer next to him narrowing her eyes at the screen. It showed a body scan, similar to the one he'd just taken of her but it couldn't possibly have been hers. There was no way. She was human, truly human.

"But," she looked at the Doctor questioningly, "It can't be. I mean it's just not possible. Nobody can just grow another organ and not notice can they?"

"It's impossible," the Doctor agreed, "and yet," he pulled the stethoscope from his pocket and fit the ends into his ears pressing the other to Donna's chest, "Listen."

Donna took the ears plugs and stuck them in her ears hearing her own heart beating from the left side of her chest and then the Doctor switched sides. For a second there was no sound as he lifted it from her chest and then without warning another beat sounded in her ears. One of Donna's hands reached for the controls to lean on while the other covered her mouth in shock.

"Oh My GOD!" she breathed not know what else to say, "but that's…"

"Improbable," the Doctor interrupted the redundancy of her next statement exchanging her word of choice for his own.

Donna leaned against the consol using it to support herself. She could not think. Something about this just seemed so surreal. For eight year of her life she and her daughter with two hearts had been the butt of scientific speculation and yet suddenly she too was a human with two hearts…and a Time Lord mind. But it can't have been sudden; an organ would take years to grow if it were to be re routing her blood vessels and growing new ones. And that would mean that she could have her whole brain back rather than the half one she had.

"So when I collapsed at work; that was my body restarting my whole brain?" She asked thoughtfully.

"I believe so," the Doctor appeared to be considering her with the utmost of concentration. He leaned against the seats across from the consol with a curious expression on his face, "You body has done something extraordinary. Energy from the genetic meta-crisis has made you a Time Lord. A human Time Lord." He walked back over to the monitor and typed punched in a few more buttons, "If I can get this working maybe I can figure out how…"

Donna looked at him for a moment stunned, "Genetic meta-crisis, that's what you call it?"

The Doctor looked up at her wondering what about the phrase was bothering her, "Yes because that's what it is. Some of my mental genetics, my Time Lord DNA was implanted in you and then triggered by the spark from Davros."

"What aren't you telling me?" she asked hesitantly. Her question was answered in a few short seconds.

"Dad, is it safe for me to take Hubble out for a walk?"

Donna did a double take, standing up and pushing the Doctor aside to make sure that it was her daughter that had spoken. Sure enough Catherine stood in the open access point to a hallway. She was not alone however. With her she had a golden retriever on a leash that looked quite busy sniffing the floor. Her daughter dropped the leash and ran forward to her.

"Mom! You're alright. I was so worried that you would recover this time. I thought Dad would have to clean you memory again so you wouldn't remember anything," Catherine leapt into her arms.

Donna held her tight and then let go after a few moments her thoughts in turmoil.

"Go on ahead but don't wander. This isn't a planet you've been to before. So you need to be careful and don't talk to anyone or go with anyone." The Doctor instructed

Donna watched Catherine and Hubble run for the doors of the telephone booth pushing them open hurriedly.

"And stay within fifteen feet of the TARDIS," the Doctor added.

There were a few moments of silence after this. Donna looked at the Doctor with weary eyes trying to gauge how much he hadn't told her. The Doctor was not looking at her as though he was feeling guilty. When Donna finally regained her voice it was probably best that she was still processing the information as she spoke.

"What did you tell her?" she asked remembering the many conversations she'd had with her daughter reassuring the little girl that Shaun was indeed her father and now this.

"It was her that told me," he replied lamely turning back to the TARDIS' monitor again and pulling up one of the previous screens.

"She's a six year-old girl, Spaceman," Donna snapped irritably, "It's not as though she doesn't have notions about things. She is like any other little girl, she creates stories."

"She is not like any other little girl. While I was waiting to see if you would recover she explained to me the theoretical depth and width of the rift in the Medusa Cascade without any help. I don't think I could do that when I was her age. Even for a Time Lord she's special. Her intelligence is far beyond anything that the Human race has seen." The Doctor looked frustrated.

"What did she say then, that made you run these scans?" Donna examined the machine, checking over her daughters brain function. The areas of activity were far larger than the areas of inactivity, "This is her brain?"

"Yes even by looking at that you can see that she is far beyond normal human intelligence," he turned back to the monitor as well, pulling up her own scans and then pulling up another set until the computer showed three body scans side by side, "She told me that we shared genetic markers and that she was your daughter."

"So you pulled from the DNA here and split it into the most likely combination?" Donna looked at the screen examining the long line of letters in the DNA.

"Yes,"

"How do you bloody explain that you're her father?" She rounded on the Doctor interested in hearing whatever explanation he had to offer.

"It falls back to the meta-crisis." He answered, "When you absorbed my regenerative energy, you were able to take in my DNA. Once it was in your body, it wasn't going to leave. It's not like a drug that wears off. Technically speaking, it's more like a virus I suppose, one that your body, for some reason, didn't attack. Most people reject and genes transferred from a partial regeneration or they are not strong enough to withstand them. Most people die."

Donna watched him waiting for him to explain to her what exactly happened to her but the information was starting to flow together in her Time Lord mind. She nodded a few times and then waited for him to continue.

"Donna Noble, you are and extraordinary person," The Doctor gazed at her with something between admiration and the look that someone gave a specimen in a jar of formaldehyde.

"You sound so surprised," she replied sarcastically, "Well go on then. Finish explaining to me how I ended up pregnant with your child a year after you left."

"Well you met Shaun and became romantically involved. I'm no human but you married and I'm pretty sure that most marriages…"

"Move on, Timeboy," she snapped.

"Right," the Doctor coughed slightly and Donna almost laugh when she realized that he was actually embarrassed, "Anyway whatever change in hormone levels happened must have triggered a reaction with my DNA."

"Is Katie a clone then?" She cut across him abruptly.

"No on the contrary she is a perfectly naturally formed child," He coughed again, "Theoretically anyway. The point is she has two parents, you and," he paused, "me."

Donna licked her lips, transferring her gaze to the doors of the TARDIS, wondering whether or not it see if her daughter was alright. She then remembered the Doctor's talk with her, their, daughter before she'd taken off with the dog. He's seemed so used to dealing with children and yet he'd said he'd only had children once, a very long time ago, before the fall of Gallifrey.

"You're very good at it," she tried starting on a topic that was light, though how discussing a mutual child between friends, or former friends, was light she'd never know, "being a Dad."

She watched the Doctor shift positions for a moment and they slipped into silence again. He seemed unsure of himself now and she worried that he'd changed too much while she was gone. The Doctor seemed somehow unused to company, and she wondered, with the strangest and wildest of notions, if he'd had companions in his travels.

"Doctor," Donna stepped over closer to him and leaned against the padded seats. She gave his shoulder a nudge, "Donna to Doctor, Come in Doctor." She teased at his vacant expression trying to lighten his heavy mood.

The Doctor smiled briefly at her and then he opened his mouth as if to speak. Donna waited but he closed it again. He seemed so broken to her, so torn between everything as though the whole universe had grabbed him by the arms and pulled him in opposite directions, as though it was still doing it. The only time she had seen him so sad was when he spoke of Rose. She had noticed that as they travelled he seemed to get better, to improve and move on. Heal, she supposed was a good word for it. He didn't seem sad now, but rather, distressed and almost guilty.

Donna blocked her train of thought there realizing that she was most probably the cause behind his guilt.

"So Doctor," she started again and then studied him as he looked up. His eyes were older and darker than they had been and now that she looked, there were a few faint lines on his cheeks where his skin would fold as he smiled that hadn't been there before, "You look older," she crossed her arms and looked at the large glowing column of the TARDIS her statement reminding her inexorably of the day he had let her come with him.

"Thanks," he replied, "and you… don't."

"It's been nearly eight years. I'm forty-two years old. I don't look older?" she asked surprised.

"No," The Doctor answered truthfully, "but you've reached a nice number there."

"Mocking my age Mr. hmm… what was it?" a pause filled the air for a few seconds, "911," she retorted playfully.

"You wound me Donna, I'm only 905," he feigned annoyance and then muttered, "Taking my years away."

"What hasn't it been eight years for you too?" Donna responded.

"No only two," he answered simply and though it was perfectly normal for time to pass by in such a manner.

"Only two? How do you figure?" she queried and then stopped to think, grateful that he hadn't answered immediately as he usually did, "Nevermind, I know the answer. Because you're a Time Lord, who travels through time. So you can travel to different galaxies all in the same day and still make it back for afternoon tea, technically speaking. Of course you can't go back on your own timeline so that isn't really a relevant example. You came back to Earth, eight years after you left me there."

"It's plausible for the sake of theory," The Doctor replied, "You are absolutely right. That is exactly what happened. Brilliant Donna, well done."

"You're patronizing me," Donna glowered for the sake of it.

"Nn…Yes I am and I will stop right now while I'm ahead," He smiled amiably for a few moments and she returned to expression.

Together they dissolved into companionable silence though this time it quiet was warm and not altogether unwelcome. She waited for a while, assuming that since the Doctor seemed unable to go an hour without hearing himself talk, he would soon engage her in conversation again. The Doctor eventually pushed himself away from the bench and wandered about the control room, every once in a while looking up at the higher reaches of the TARDIS' interior as though waiting for something.

"What is it?" Donna followed his gaze, "You have that look on your face, like there's something bothering you."

The Doctor transferred his gaze to her, "Yes, well, you were saying I was a good parent." He paused, "I beg to differ."

"Why? You did well with Catherine. I see you've kept her alive while I was out of it so I think you deserve more credit that you give yourself." Donna stated.

"Jenny," The Doctor glanced up the stairs again forgetting that his companion did not yet know of Jenny's continued life.

"Jenny…" Donna looked at him raising and eyebrow, "Jenny the clone Jenny?" she turned to face him tone incredulous, "Blimey, you're not still on about that are you? She made her choice. It wasn't your fault that bleedin machine programmed her to fight and die."

Donna watched the doctor's expression change from one of calm knowledge to one of confusion. For a few moment he looked truly perplexed and then it recognition appeared on his features.

"Donna, she's not dead," The Doctor replied, "In fact she's in her room right now, on the TARDIS, with her friend."

Donna looked at him for a moment considering the expression her was wearing. He seemed happy but troubled, "She's alive. Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yes, it's a very good thing but," The Doctor gazed up at the higher reaches of his spaceship again, "I seem powerless to stop her from making… irresponsible decisions."

"Jenny has a boyfriend?" Donna smiled at him as she studied his expression of consternation, "Not in danger of being called Gramps soon are you?" she struggled not to laugh.

"I better not be," he replied as though it was something that had yet to cross his mind. He turned to the consol of the TARDIS and pressed a button on it, "Jenny, Luke come down here!"

Donna turned suddenly for the door, her mind running wild as she realized that her six year-old daughter had been outside the TARDIS for at least an hour on a strange planet with nothing but a dog and her great-grandfather for protection. For all that time she'd forgotten responsibility and forgotten what age it was. It had simply been her and the Doctor off on another of their adventures.

Donna ran for the doors, pulling at the handles as she reached them. They didn't budge. The floor of the TARDIS began to vibrate and she tugged all the harder, the rushing and whirring of the time mechanism beginning to fade them away from the world they had been present on. She turned to the Doctor eyes glazed with fear and panic as the TARDIS pulled her away from that world and from her daughter.

The Doctor hurried forward and grabbed her, pulling her away from the doors.

a/n- Wow, I have an update up! Oh My GOD! There's not really much I can say about it accept I'm now an American whose thoughts are now coming out in her head with British accents. I got a bit stuck and also was banned from the computer for a while because I wasn't getting enough schoolwork done so I had to write in a notebook. Trouble was, I couldn't remembered where I'd stopped on my computer so I ended up back tracking a bit. I have about a third of the next chapter finished and a whole load of other stuff to post after that. I now have a lot more depth to my tale. Let's just say I think you will be surprised with how this goes. Or perhaps not. You never know. Send me your predictions for what you think will happen. I just love reading other people's ideas. They give me perspective. And who knows, maybe they'll pop up somewhere in the story as well.

To new worlds and new places and the synapses of imagination!

Tabitha of MoonAurora


	7. Orange Sky in the Morning

"Take us back," she demanded once she regained control of her faculties, "Take us back now! That is our daughter and we just left her alone with a dog and my grandfather on an alien planet. Please take me back."

"Donna, I can't and you know it. You can feel the TARDIS as I can. You can hear her. I can't do anything yet." The Doctor's arms enfolded her for a second time that day.

Donna stood for a moment, face buried in her best friend's shoulder as she tried to calm down. She could, as he said feel the TARDIS and, she could tell that it was no use trying to operate it at all for the time being. She bit her lip swallowing the lump in her throat. It was always best in dire situations such as this to remain calm and not panic, or at least be close to that kind of resolve.

"Dad!" a voice called from the top of the TARDIS and there came a quiet thumping of a person taking two steps at a time as they came down, "Dad what just happened. I was trying to practice telekinesis." The blonde girl stopped in front of them and Donna's jaw dropped, "Dad what is it? What's wrong?"

"Catherine, Hubble and Wilfred were left behind when the TARDIS took off. I couldn't stop it. The system must have short circuited. I don't believe that the power of the Time Vortex was behind this, but…" he ran his hand alone the tall greenish column in the center of the control room.

"You left a dog, a girl and an old man on an alien planet," Luke looked around at the people in the room incredulously, "You lot are barking. Just barking."

Jenny turned to him, glaring, her eyes flashing menacingly. She stepped forward and laid a hand on Donna's arm. Donna looked at her for a moment blinking the tears from her eyes.

"What now, Spaceman?" Donna stepped up to him pulling his attention away from the column in the center of the room, "My daughter is on a bleedin planet, completely unknown to us and your ship has transported us, from the looks of it, out into the middle of bloody, effing, space!"

The Doctor looked at her from a moment, and Donna knew instantly, what he would see. He would see a panicked mother trying frantically to find her daughter. And she knew his response would be just like him, calm and collected and gentle, or at least she thought she knew how he would react.

"Donna, she's not just your daughter," The Doctor grasped her shoulders tightly, "Do you think… Could you think, even for a second, that I don't want to find Catherine every bit as much as you do?"

Donna took a step away from him, both her human and Time Lord minds reeling from the impact of his words. She lowered her eyes for a moment and then lifted them to his. The Doctor stood before her and she could see the pain in his face. The hurt that she could see underlying and barely concealed by the incredulity on his face was enough to make her chest ache with the guilt of her words.

"I didn't mean you didn't care. I just…" Donna looked down again, "I know you care but I didn't consider you…" Donna hesitated her left hand pushing against the TARDIS controls as she tried to calm her rapid breathing, "Look, Doctor, let's just find my-our daughter alright?"

Achieving a sense of normality and calm during such a situation was something entirely foreign to Donna and yet here she was, pushing the Doctor aside so that she could work on the TARDIS' monitor. Telepathic communication with the internal vortex of the machine was nothing now compared to what she understood but it required her to push everything from her mind and allow only the clarity of pure, unaltered thought. Emotions gone, she reached into the TARDIS and spoke as calm as she possibly could.

_I need you to tell me what has happened. What has gone wrong? _Donna blocked the fear she felt, again containing that part of her mind within a wall. Perhaps the Doctor could communicate with the world raging in his head but she certainly needed peace. Fear was the opposite of peace.

_You're not the Doctor. _The TARDIS' reply was short and surprisingly concise despite the fact that it answered nothing.

_No, I'm not; I'm his companion, and I need you to tell me what has happened. _Donna's answer was stubborn and controlled as she fought against herself.

_You are like him but unlike him. You are something new, something we have not seen before. _The TARDIS paused. _And we do not know if to trust you or abandon you._

_I'm asking you for help! I need to find my daughter. I need you to take me back!_

_Until I know who you are I cannot allow that. You must open yourself to us, let us burn through your thoughts and become you before we choose. _The TARDIS extended itself toward her mind. She could feel the heat of its consciousness coming closer and coming into her. It was malevolent and yet benevolent at the same time.

_And why should I trust you? _Donna stated, blocking everything but her communication faculties. _You expect me to allow you access to my thoughts and to everything that I am. How can I do that if I have no proof that you will not kill me or change me? _

_You will not. We, I believe it could be said in your language, would call it faith. Open yourself to us, Donna Noble, allow us to see who you are and what you can be. Give us a reason to trust you and we will help you. _The TARDIS contracted its contact and then dove forward. _Open to us!_

Donna stumbled backward at the impact of the TARDIS' consciousness. She could see nothing and feel nothing. It burned through her reminding her of the Doctor's mind first contacting her own and yet as she stopped fighting the light and the shadow that raged in her something beautiful came to her. It was color behind her eyes, vibrant and brilliant, understanding emblazoned across a myriad of sparkling rainbows droplets, shimmering under a bright sky ever changing in its color.

Donna gasped and leaned heavily into the hands that supported her body. She was unsure yet if she could stand. She was breathing heavily; the sound of the TARDIS' great time engine whirred and whooshed in her ears with the return of her senses, louder than it should be and yet somehow amazingly stabilizing. She blinked and took a deep breath to calm her body.

"Donna?" it was the Doctor's voice coming from very close to her, "Donna, what happened?"

Donna tilted her head and saw that it was the Doctor who was supporting her. Behind him she could see a worried Jenny and a thoughtful Luke watching as well. Jenny stepped forward and knelt beside her father, grabbing one of Donna's hands.

"I spoke with the TARDIS." She looked around, "Is it taking us back?"

"I don't know. She won't talk to me. She's completely blocked me out," The Doctor replied, helping her sit up, "She told me one thing and that was it. Her mission was from the Catalyst."

Donna looked at him and then placed a hand on her forehead. It was hot with fever. She felt hot even for a human and she was a Time Lord now. She should not have been warmer than normal human body temperature. Taking another few deep breaths to calm her breathing, she closed her eyes.

"I don't know what they mean, Doctor, but I wish I did. And I'm glad I don't. Does that make sense?" She asked looking at him again, her ginger hair falling down into her face.

The Doctor didn't reply but instead pressed one of his cool hands to her forehead. Then he lowered it his face showing concern.

"What happened while you were speaking with her? What was said?" He stood and pulled her to her feet.

Donna transferred her gaze to his eyes and saw that his brow was furrowed in thought.

"I commanded the TARDIS to take us back to wherever Catherine and Gramps are and they questioned me. It asked me why it should trust me and why they should allow me to command them." Donna let out a shaking sigh, a hand still placed heavily on his shoulder, "And then they told me to open myself to them and allow them to examine me. Then they forced their way in." The former temp stumbled and leaned more heavily on him, "I saw things. More things than I could ever imagine. At first it hurt but I wouldn't allow it to burn me."

The Doctor looked at her strangely but it was not an expression she had ever seen before. He wore a look of perplexed consideration. Donna lifted one arm and folded it across her chest the other coming to her mouth in thought for a moment. Then something interrupted her mind again. Her thought processes were not alone; the TARDIS' presence in her mind needled at her brain communication centers, demanding her attention.

_You were worthy of our knowledge, human-Time Lord, but we shall warn you that what we did was to protect him, our companion. We did not wish pain upon him. Now we see, through you, what he is and what he has become. We see that he is more than he once was and is more than what we and he were once. We can look into him and into you and have vision and strength. _The TARDIS' cryptic words pushed her mind into a frenzy of thought, formulating theories of their meaning but Donna quickly focused her attention on the Doctor, ignoring the vortex's words.

"You opened yourself to the TARDIS," The Doctor was still staring at her as if he was not really seeing her but looking through her, "and allowed the vortex of time to take you."

Donna nodded her head once, leaning back against the consol and listening to the hum of life aboard the TARDIS. It was everywhere and she wished she'd noticed it before. How much she had been missing. The price of it though was harsh, feeling the possibilities of every movement the Doctor made and the potential for both good and bad occurring. At first she had thought the knowledge wondrous but now, now she could feel the burden that he carried and understood why he was so lonely and thought her own species so fleeting.

The Doctor joined her there, his arms crossed over his chest as well. His brow was knitted tighter than she could ever remember it and she noticed that one of his fingers was tapping the side of his elbow. Donna reached out the hand that had been against the corner of her mouth and stopped the finger. He looked at her.

"You should not have been able to do that," he stated abruptly, "Not without the safety of protection and training. It is something that was done once in a Time Lord's life." He paused, "At the academy, with teachers and mentors we were granted one glance into the time vortex itself and then we were taken from the Untempered Schism and taught at the academy. Even at the Schism we were protected. It was merely a gateway between the dimensions." The Doctor placed his hand over hers, the one she had stopped from tapping, and turned it over, "You're certain there is nothing. That your mind is not disintegrating." His thumb ran over her palm and wrist and squinted, "Look at your wrist. The TARDIS has left its mark on you."

Donna lowered her gaze to where his thumb lay. She ran her fingers over the raised skin there. The circular swirls ran under her fingertips, the skin over them smooth as though they had always been there.

"It will fade," The Doctor slid his hands into his pockets and strode away from the consol obviously still deep in thought, "The TARDIS marks my companions in different ways. You, she seems particularly fond of."

Donna continued rubbing her finger over her wrist, her eyes following the Doctor though she was lost in her own thoughts, "I wouldn't say fond. Perhaps she thinks of me as a tool."

The Doctor turned his gaze on her and then returned to pacing around the control room, "I've never sensed the TARDIS as a malevolent being, Donna."

"The TARDIS is of time, Doctor. We're all tools of time, even you or me," Donna pushed herself off of the consol and crossed to sit on the couch, "Something doesn't have to be 'malevolent' to put you to use."

"No I suppose not," The Doctor leaned against the consol again, one leg casually crossed over the other as he looked at her, "And when did you become so philosophical?"

"When I absorbed part of your brain and started seeing the universe, Spaceman," She cracked him a small smile, "A little ways to go left I think."

"Yeah, couldn't agree more,"

The Doctor seemed perturbed, and Donna couldn't deny she found her own knowledge of his world slightly off-setting if not completely fantastic. She too crossed her legs. Her fingers brushed over the raised skin at her wrist again and she leaned back against the broken down couch cushions. The ginger haired woman's eyes transferred to Jenny and Luke who were both sitting against one of the walls of the TARDIS looking slightly lost. Luke was fiddling with something and as she watched, a red stream of gas issued from the object and the teen swore.

"Adjust the energy converter so the internal process is equivalent to the external pressure exerted on the anterior hull. You'll optimize your fission economy and decrease ultra-radiation when flying," Donna suggested to him.

Luke and Jenny looked up. The young blonde girl smiled and paced a kiss on Luke's cheek before walking over to join her on the couch. Donna returned her grin with a small one of her own though the idea of understanding actual rocket science was conceptually wrong. She wasn't supposed to know these things.

"Where'd you learn that?" Jenny asked for once calm with a calm countenance.

"It's like the Doctor said. When Davros hit me with his stunner, it awoke the Time Lord mind I absorbed from your father's regenerative energy which he had stored in the hand that he lost. The electric shock stimulated the neurons in my brain into a frenzy, opening the new synapses and connecting my human brain with his Time Lord knowledge and memories. He learned it, I just have to remember it." Donna looked at the girl.

Jenny cocked her head to the side for a moment and chewed on her lip. The ginger temp studied the Doctor's daughter. The blonde teenager was nothing like her own daughter. Catherine was always quiet and sometimes even cold. While Jenny did seem intelligent, she rarely used her gifts for anything but making occasional astute comments, whereas Catherine frequently used it to entertain herself and to help with money on occasion. She also used it for sports always calculating the perfect angle at which to optimize lift or speed. Often the girl had scared her grandmother though now Donna supposed it was because the girl seemed to know enough about the universe to bring her own memories back.

"You've changed a lot Donna." Jenny stated, "I can't see you like I used to be able to."

Donna opened her mouth about to speak again but with a wild jerk the whoosh of the TARDIS was silenced and they were each thrown down from their perches. What Luke had been working on flew across the room and bounced off the wall, clinking loudly. She heard the Doctor let out a grunt as he caught himself on the railing, narrowly missing a three story fall.

"So when you said you asked the TARDIS to bring us back to wherever we'd been before it took us away, you couldn't have asked it for a softer landing?" The Doctor quipped as he retrieved the sonic screwdriver from the floor.

"And I suppose you could have done better, Spaceman?" Donna pushed herself up off of the floor, "Everytime you drive, we end up in the wrong time or the wrong place, and we're all risking severe injury."

"I'm not that bad at it," he replied defensively, "Jenny could you retrieve your ship. It echoes in here."

Donna glanced at the offending object which was blaring a loud signal sounding something akin to a car alarm. She allowed an amused smile onto her face and walked over to stand by the Doctor. She could feel something new, a tingling in her senses as thought a new presence was around her but she could not name the feeling. Perhaps it was something that she had previously ignored. Whatever the case, she chose to do just that now, pushing away the nagging feeling that everything was about to change.

"Donna?" The Doctor was facing her now a concerned expression on his skinny face, "Are you alright? There's nothing bothering you? You're still tolerating the time vortex? Is it your…"

Donna reached forward and placed a hand on his wrist to stop him from continuing, "I'm just fine, Doctor. You can relax, Spaceman, accept that some things turn out the way they are supposed to."

"You think it was supposed to turn out this way?" he asked half teasingly.

"Yes I do," she replied smartly, and with a vague snobbish look and a raising of her chin, Donna made her way to the doors.

The ginger temp threw him a glance over her shoulder and winked. Her hands grasped the handles of the TARDIS doors and she pulled inward. Jenny, who had watched the exchange, began giggling quietly and towed an irritated Luke toward the staircase but they did not quite reach it.

"Aren't you going to join me, Spaceman?" Donna turned to look out the doors and gasped, her eyes widening.

The niggling feeling in the recesses of her mind returned ten-fold as she opened herself to the telepathic connections of millions of races. Brilliant crimson waved in the gentle sweet wind wafting into the TARDIS _through _the atmospheric barrier that the Time-Space Machine held as a protection for her passengers. Beyond the crimson rise before her lay a hillside of shining silver and beyond that lay a brilliant Dome that rose thousands if not tens of thousands of feet into the air. Sparkling golden towers lay inside that convex arc, myriad of sparkling colors shimmering along its edges. Two suns, both a bright copper, shown on the horizon, illuminating the world around them a deep unwavering orange.

There she stood, the most important woman in the universe, her feet balanced on the threshold of the TARDIS, unable to move or breath. Donna Noble could do nothing but stare and feel her mind scream in shock.

a/n- Yeah! A cliffhanger. I positively love cliffhangers, don't you? No probably not but I cannot wait to post the next chapter so you probably won't have long to wait. I'm shooting for ten chapters in this fic but I'm not certain that will happen. It will probably be more if you know me. There is going to be one following this. Give me your predictions for they are the fuel of my thoughts.

Onward!

Tabtiha of MoonAurora

P.S. I have a suggestion for you. Rather than just using your amazing computer mice to click that nice drop down tab that allows you to select "add to favorites", you could click the nice link that says "review this chapter" and tell me what you think about it. (subtle hint *nudgenudge*)


	8. Red Memories of the Future

The Doctor stood where he was. It was as though someone had frozen time. The familiar breeze ruffled his hair filling his nostrils with the sweet scent of home. He closed his eyes and inhaled the smells that had so long been lost to him and yet he could not move. The Time Lord could not allow himself to drift in this direction. He opened his eyes and looked through the doors, pain and memories flooding his overactive mind. The burnt orange sky, the mental cries of millions as they perished in a fiery hail of a plasma storm, seared his eyelids like a hot iron. The agony of knowledge, of absolute solitude and of knowing beyond any shadow of a doubt that ones family was gone and the reason for living was lost twisted his heart together in a painful knot.

The red grass shimmered as it waved back and forth as though welcoming home in the cordial gesture but he felt it unlikely that anyone would feel the same. Sunken in a well of memories the Doctor remained where he was, solid as a sculpture of marble placed in the Louvre museum.

{{DOCTOR WHO}}

Donna turned from the door, her mouth slightly opened and eyes wider than they had been in many years. Her fiery gray eyes settled on the Doctor. From where she stood he seemed suspended in one spot. His face had paled to a grayish white and his expression of tight-lipped shock came as no surprise to her. She let the doors swing on their hinges as she turned to him and walked tentatively forward.

The ginger woman touched his arm with the tips of her fingers, brushing them along his suit jacket gently as though touching a bubble with the hopes of not popping it. She opened her mouth as though she were about to speak and then closed it again, unsure what to say. Her fingers lingered on the hem of his sleeve subconsciously fingering it as she considered what was best for the situation. Finally she settled on his name.

"Doctor?" she whispered, raisin her eyes to look at him.

The first time she spoke it had no effect. The Doctor's brown eyes continued to focus on the distant vision of the world beyond the TARDIS' doors, rather than on her presence.

"Doctor," she spoke again.

Donna felt the Doctor start suddenly and met his eyes as he looked down at her. The turmoil in his eyes opened her to his whirlpool of emotions. It seemed everything thrown into one. The first contact they established was then. The temp from Chiswick felt the surge of uncontrollable anger and fear just as he did the moment it happened. His hand pushed her roughly aside and she stumbled as he hurried across the room.

Donna watched her best friend slam the TARDIS' doors closed and then examined him as he went back to the controls, calibrating the launch patterns. Despite how she knew he felt, Donna stepped forward and turned him to face her staring him straight in the eyes.

"Your daughter is out there. My grandfather is out there and there is a golden retriever out there as well. I risked a lot to get us back here, you will not take us away again," Donna left her statements with no room for him to squirm away from them.

The Doctor gazed back at his companion and Donna almost gasped at what she saw in his eyes. He was pleading her to let him leave. He had opened himself now, allowing her to see all of the raw emotion spilling from him. If he had not needed her there to be his rock she would have caved in and allowed him to run and hide as she knew he always did but she couldn't.

"I won't let you run from who you are," Donna stepped in front of the consol, switching it off in the process. She felt the TARDIS briefly argue with her actions, somewhere deep in the recesses of her brain but she quelled it and the monitor went blank.

The Doctor broke the eye contact and looked away with a blink of his eyes. The Ginger temp stepped away from the monitor, pushing away the pain and the fear. She turned toward the doors of the TARDIS and reopened them, the sweet breeze sweeping through the atmospheric barrier again as though it did not even exist. Donna stood there on the threshold again balancing precariously on the line between what she knew to be true and what was. She drew in a breath of the soothing air and drew herself up to full height. In a split second decision, she stepped forward, her foot sinking knee high into the auburn grass, and out into the world beyond.

{{DOCTOR WHO}}

Catherine threw the ball of energy forward into the air and then let it land some distance off, dissipating as it made contact with the potential earth. She laughed and collapsed back into the grass, enjoying the feel of life tingling in her senses. The world had a brilliant feel of coming home, something Earth had never quiet possessed. Under the surface of brilliant and wandering emotions lay the field of telepathy that belonged and only could belong to her race. The frequency was perfect, the hum simultaneously in tune with all others, braiding and entwining but never combining with those unseen secrets she knew lay in the minds of other species.

She could touch feel, taste, see, and smell better than she ever could before, it was as though the life in her had awakened and she'd not known it had been slumbering. The six year-old rolled over and stood, running through the field in circles around her great-grandfather, Hubble towed haltingly behind.

Catherine stopped abruptly, spinning on her tiny heel. The TARDIS was disappearing before her very eyes. She ran forward and lunged at the doors but fell face first in the grass instead. When she rolled over, she looked around for a few moment unsure what to think. While she tried with all of her might to remain rational, she could not. Part of her was still a scared six year-old who had just been left on a foreign planet by her mother and father. She stumbled to her feet and looked around. Anger surged through her mind. She cursed a few times under her breath so as not to surprise her dazed relative and then bit her lip. Furious aggravated tears had welled in her eyes and she hurried to ward Wilf, arms outstretched. She wrapped them tightly around the old man, just as her mother would have done if things had overwhelmed her when she was young. Wilf hugged her back stiffly, for his old age did not truly allow for free movement.

"It's alright," he fondly patted her hair with an arthritis riddled hand, "I'm sure they wouldn't leave us somewhere it wasn't safe. They'll be back for us I promise."

Secretly the old man prayed his statement was true. For how much he had dreamed of travelling the stars, his idea of "struttin' about with all them aliens" was not something he had ever wished to do completely alone.

Hubble let out a loud bark and ran forward. Catherine stumbled as the leash went tight around her wrist. She pulled her face from her great-grandfather's stomach and turned to follow the dog's gaze. The six year-old froze as she saw the barrel of a gun pointed at her. The man behind that gun was a soldier dressed in a crimson and brown camo jumpsuit.

As the ginger haired girl looked around her she saw more men rise from the grass. Her watery tear-stained eyes narrowed and then she clenched her finger into fists. She marched up to the first man and glared at him. The man lowered his weapon and indicated the others should do the same.

"What's your name kid?" the soldier asked in a gruff and patronizing voice. He knelt to her level.

Catherine narrowed her eyes further and then crossed her arms over her chest, "And why would I tell a bloody, stupid, sod like you my name? You could just bio-scan me anyway."

The soldier appeared a cross between miffed and shocked to be cussed at by a six year-old. The old man standing behind her placed a tight grip on her shoulder.

"You're coming with us. You wouldn't want to be out past night fall. They have bio-scanners at the gates. We'll see who you are then." He grasped a handful of the girl's shirt and pushed her roughly in front of him.

Catherine stumbled but didn't fall. She tossed a glare over her shoulder, shaming him for being so rude but the soldier seemed oblivious to it and instead shoved Wilf ahead of him as well, though it seemed he did so less roughly. The three Earth citizens started a march down into a valley toward the large bubble of energy in the distance.

{{DOCTOR WHO}}

Donna could see no one. There was not a trace of a person anywhere. She breathed in and out a couple times to steady herself. Her hearts were beating quickly inside her chest and she was forced to lean against the TARDIS for support.

Catherine was not where they had left her. For all she knew, her daughter was lost. Lost on this world, of all worlds. She fought the panic she felt rising in her, wrestling it down again and breathing a steady regular rhythm. Donna took one last walk around the TARDIS, straining her eyes to see beyond where she'd already looked and then let out a long sigh. Nothing appeared any different than before. Wearily, she stepped back onto the TARDIS.

The Doctor stood at the controls again. His face was blank, but occasionally she could see the slight quirk of a smile or the down turn of a frown. Now she was inside the TARDIS she could feel his consciousness and could feel his emotions, but she did not invade. He would not invade her privacy. To Donna, it felt as though he was struggling to figure out whether he should be relieved or terrified that he was here.

Donna walked right past him and settled herself on the couch. She placed her head in her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. It was all too much.

"She's not there," Donna choked, finally losing control. Her voice was barely more than a whisper but she knew that the Doctor could hear her anyway, "She's gone, lost."

It was a long time before the Doctor reacted. Donna sat alone on the couch, one hand over her mouth in an attempt to hide the sobs she so desperately did not want to reach anyone else's ears. Then the couch beside her sunk slightly, and she felt an arms wrap over her shoulders. She responded instantly, clinging to the Doctor as though he was the only thing to keep her from drifting away.

Donna knew this surprised him, she could feel his posture emanating his shock at her display of weakness. She couldn't hold back her tears now. With her face buried in his shoulder, she let her fear and panic pour from her.

She didn't know how long she cried, or whether part of her emotions were latent one from the death of her late husband, but when she finally pulled away from the Doctor and wiped the tears from her eyes, she felt new clarity. Neither she nor the Doctor said anything for a few moments. Donna regained her composure and leaned back against the back of the couch. Her eyes drifted upward to the Doctor's.

The Doctor looked back at her and then stood, something she had not seen in his eyes for a long time lighting his face. Determination glowed in his eyes and in his expression.

"Right!" the man from Gallifrey, finally returned home, crossed to the consol and spun the monitor to face him, "She'll still be here. My people are peaceful, they don't hurt people or persecute them. Wherever she is, she'll be safe. And they won't take her away from Wilf. Family is important on Gallifrey."

Donna watched him for a moment and then joined him at the monitor. Images were whirling across the screen so fast that she could not focus on them. The Doctor was searching for something and now that she understood exactly how the TARDIS worked, she could help. The temp reached her mind forward and accessed the monitor. Concentrating hard, she began to narrow the fields of search. The answer was growing closer, she could feel it but then the spinning transmissions and radio waves stopped altogether.

"Now hold on!" The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the screen, "That is not possible! Gallifrey does not exist in this galactic vector. It exist millions of light-years away. It's in Kasterborous not the… NO!" he looked as though he had just had an epiphany, "But that is not good, that could change everything that has happened since now. Wait when is now?"

"2018, Spaceman," Donna answered, "August 4, 2018."

"How'd you know that?" The Doctor looked at her his voice betraying that he was slightly perturbed by her sudden knowledge.

Donna tapped her head somewhat unenthusiastically. Though she had returned to calling him Spaceman, her fiery attitude for the moment was somewhat gone, "Part Time-Lord, remember?"

"Right," he paused, looking her over again, "Everything I've done, past this date has just changed, and" the Time Lord squinted at the screen. "There are two sentient species inhabiting Gallifrey. Noh! Humans there are humans on Gallirey!"

"Pull up the screen showing the Earth and Gallifrey," Donna commented sporadically.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her, "Why do you want to see that?"

"Just do it!" She snapped and then she continued, "I just have this feeling."

The Doctor sonicked the screen again and leaned forward against the rim of the controls. She stood next to him, her shoulder even with his as they watched the screen change to the requested image. Donna drew in a sharp breath and narrowed her eyes at the screen.

"Oooh that is not good, well, sort of not good." The Doctor tilted his head.

"Sort of not good? You could fly a plane between the two planets they're so close to each other." She pointed at the sliver of space between the two, "It would have to be a heavily armoured plane but a plane all the same. Gallifrey and Earth are sharing the same orbital pattern."

"Yeah…" his mouth made a thin line across his face and his eyebrows were furrowed again, "But it's not really that bad, if you think about it. Would advance humans several" the Time Lord paused in thought as Donna stared at him, "thousand years but nothing's wrong with a push forward."

It was Donna's turn to raise an eyebrow, "Nothing wrong with a push forward. This could offset everything we've done, mess with the balance of the universe again." She brushed a lock of ginger hair out of her eyes and then looked incredulously at him, "You're always telling me about the universe having fixed points. Gallifrey was a fixed point in time, the Time War was a fixed point in time." She laid a hand on his shoulder, "So, now that we're here and Gallifrey is next to Earth, what do you think is going to happen? Something can't just change, Doctor. You can't snap your fingers and fix things that can't be fixed. Fixed points in time can't just become in flux. It's not how it works."

"Donna," The Doctor turned to her placing his hands on her shoulders, "I'm not supposed to be alive."

Donna stared at him for a moment trying to catch him joking but his face was deadly serious. She shook her head for a moment, processing this new information.

"Do you remember when the Ood told us about what you would become?"

Donna nodded remembering the icy planet of the Oodsphere well.

"They told me my song would end," the Doctor fixed his eyes on her, their brown depths infinitely dark and somber, "But the end never came. I was never killed, I never regenerated." He paused, "I didn't die, because of you and now I am in flux, Donna. I can't feel where my own path leads."

Donna looked at him a moment longer and then turned her head back to the screen on the computer, "You couldn't regenerate because I have your mind. You were tied to me."

She had said it so that he knew that she understood what he was saying. Now that Donna looked at him though, she wasn't entirely sure if he had even gotten that far. The Doctor was looking at her as though her statement was the most glorious thing in the world.

"Fixed points were fixed points, until you came along Donna. Time folds itself to you," he removed his hands from her shoulders and crossed one over his chest, closing the other around his chin.

"Doctor, Catherine is still…" Donna interrupted his train of thought, pulling the monitor closer to herself.

"Right!" The Doctor leapt abruptly forward and sonicked the computer screen yet again, "Time to find your daughter."

Donna waited patiently for him to finish with the screen, giving the monitor a few nudges to the right resources.

"Here we are, Catherine Martha Rose Temple-Noble, long name. Did you really name her all that even when you were unconscious of your memories?" he asked

Donna fixed him with a glare.

"Nevermind," he leaned closer to the screen, "Oooo, they are keeping her at the Academy. They scanned her brain." The time lord grinned, "Special girl you've got there, or we've got."

"Wipe that smile off of your face, Spaceman," Donna's smile joined his though as relief washed over her knowing that she had at least been found and was not wandering about the planet by herself, "What about Gramps?"

The sonic screwdriver hummed to life again.

"One Wilfred Ugene Mott, being kept at the Academy as well." The Doctor grinned at her again, showing all of his teeth, "Of we go then."

Donna nodded, and began setting the TARDIS controls to the proper coordinates. She had already finished with the Analytic Equalizers when a hand closed around her wrist.

"We're going to old fashioned way," he released her wrist and walked to the foot of the stairs, "Jenny, it's time to go" the Doctor yelled up the metal twisting staircase and one of the doors popped open.

a/n- So, for those of you who didn't quite catch the "subtle" hint throughout the chapter as to where they are, the Doctor and Donna are on Gallifrey. Don't worry I have it all worked out. Gallifrey didn't just appear in the middle of the Solar System, There's no, dues ex machine, only plotting and scheming. I hope to have the next chapter up soon.

An-mhaith,

Tabitha of MoonAurora

P.S. A special thanks to Seiya's Star for the amazing reviews and feedback you've given me. It's nice to know that I have written something you like, and I sincerely hope this chapter (with its faux line breaks) was up to the standards of my others.


	9. Dove in their Eyes

Jenny had a leather jacket in her hands which she threw on as she bounced down the stairs. Luke followed her, his "suck it" tee shirt having been discarded for something a bit less offensive.

Donna followed the Doctor and his teenage daughter out the door, hanging back with Luke. The brown haired boy had been quiet for most of the time she had spent with him, albeit it hadn't been all that long, but she wondered what had happened to make him so subdued.

"You're Sarah Jane's son right?" she asked inquisitively.

Luke nodded and glanced at her for a moment.

"I'm not here to nag you," she commented, "Just thought you ought to know that if you ever want to talk," She paused, "I'm here."

Luke nodded again and gave her a slight smile before hurrying forward to catch up with his girlfriend. Donna caught the Doctor's eye and fell into sped up to walk beside him. The two teens had gotten some ways ahead. She watched the Doctor stare after the pair.

"You're worried about her aren't you?" She asked kindly.

"Hmm," he responded, "No, why would you say that?"

"Because you watch them together, often with one of those protective gleams in your eyes, like right now for instance," Donna slipped her hand into his, "You worry about her. It's not a bad thing."

"My children weren't old enough to even consider courting when Gallifrey was lost," he replied distantly, "I'm not really sure where I should draw the line."

Donna laughed lightly for a moment and then glanced up at him, "Courting, really? I believe they call it dating now."

"Well, you can call it what you want," he answered, "I'm not sure I'm comfortable with her dating."

"And you wouldn't be a good father if you weren't, Spaceman." Donna bumped his shoulder with her own, "But at some point you're going to have to let go of her. She's her own person, and a Time Lady to boot. She could do what you do, travel through Time and Space, save worlds and people from terrible things."

The Doctor bobbed his head in agreement.

"But for now she's your responsibility. Just," she took a breath while she thought of what to tell him, "show her how to be brilliant. Don't worry about Luke. I'm sure he won't hurt her, and he certainly isn't stupid. She'll be alright."

"And when Catherine reaches this age?" The Doctor inquired looking ahead of them toward the glowing bubble that was the Citadel.

"Oh any boy that she brings home will have a long talk with me before he even thinks about having her on a date but I'm a completely different person than you are,"

"Not so different. We share,"

Donna cut him off, "the same mind yes, but even the same mind is different in different people. Not to mention half my brain is still human."

"True, true," the Doctor nodded his head slightly, continuing to walk with his hand shoved in his pockets, "You know, I think we might run into trouble ahead."

"And why would that be?" Donna asked and then followed his gaze.

While they had talked, they had drawn nearer to the Citadel than she had originally thought. Not more than a few hundred yards before them was the entry gate to the city. It was guarded, much to both Donna and the Doctor's surprise, by mean in crimson and brown camouflage. Each man held a gun and what looked like a cross between a bar code scanner and a taser.

"That would be why," Donna answered her own question.

"Jenny, Luke, stick close. Wouldn't want you getting lost in all of this," The Doctor jerked his head toward himself and Donna.

Once at the gates, Donna observed that though Gallifrey was a technologically advanced society, the people living there were dressed as though they belonged in the early middle ages, although the clothing was much more richly colored and elaborately sewn than what had been described in Earth's early years. People milled around them, and she could only distinguish between species by the brain waves each person gave off as they passed. She was moderately surprised that the human's mental emissions were much lower than she had originally expected.

A group of men and women clad in robes of bright pinkish-purple passed them. Each one turned to look at them quickly and then continued on as though they were afraid of something. Donna narrowed her gaze at them, trying to recall something from the Doctor's memories so she would not have to ask a question.

"Patrexeans," The Doctor commented, "One of the Chapters of the Academy. Never much liked me. I was too," he paused as if in thought, "open minded, for their taste." He winked at Donna who looked down to hide her small smile, "Anyway, best move one, the line's moving."

Donna watched the Patrexeans pass through the gates without the guards giving them a second glance. Another group in green robes did the same. The Doctor didn't seem to notice and for once in her life she observed that he was impatient. The ginger woman supposed that now he stood at the gates of the capital city of Gallifrey, he was anxious to see what had become of his home planet.

"Step up to the metal plate and hold out your arms,"

Donna was brought from her revery by the sound of a harsh male voice giving orders. Then she realized that the man was talking to her. The Doctor stood on the other side of her being asked to do the same thing. She stepped forward and stood lightly on the plate, holding her arms aloft. The man with the radar gun, bio-scanner as she now realized, squeezed the trigger and a little green line appeared on her chest. He ran the object over her several times and then beckoned a fellow of his over. The man was holding a small computer and staring at a screen. Donna leaned sideways to get a better looked but the man who had scanned her shook his head. There was a beeping noise and then the young man's eyes opened wide.

"What is it Jenkins?" The first man took the computer from the boy and then handed it back.

"It's just, this computer can't be registering right. It says that she's a Time Lord, but she registers as Donna Temple-Noble. And that's the Doctor."

"We've got the Doctor and Donna Noble?" the man took the computer again, "Oi are you off you're meds?" he read through the information on the computer screen, "You're kidding!"

Donna glanced at the Doctor and dropped her hands to her sides. He looked as though he might actually laugh. She rolled her eyes at him, and then returned her attention to the men before them.

"You disappeared a two years ago. We've been looking for you for ages," Jenkins offered a hand to her, "Lord strike me down if I speak false."

The Doctor stepped in front of her and took Jenkins' hand, wringing it jauntily. The boy looked, if possible a bit disappointed. Donna almost had to smile at the scene, but she'd rub it in later.

"Pleased to meet you Jenkins; I'm the Doctor," he let go of the boy's hand and stood up straight, his other hand slipping through Donna's again, "Now, I don't suppose you could tell me why there are armed guards at the gate of the Citadel. Gallifrey is a peaceful planet. We have no need for weapons."

"Prince Tybus demanded it be so. He asked us for penance for joining his culture in sentience on this fine planet. This is how the humans pay their debt for visiting," Jenkins slung the strap of his gun over his back and smiled, "You should know that, Doctor. Where have you been over the past two years?"

The Doctor looked away for a moment and then returned his attention to the soldier, "Prince Tybus, as in Prince Tybus my son?"

"That would be correct, Doctor," The first soldier replied.

Donna's eyes snapped onto the Doctor. His son was called Prince Tybus. She'd known his name but not the prince part. The Doctor's eyes dropped to the ground as she observed him from a new perspective. Why had he never told her and, more importantly, why hadn't she found it in his memories?

"Then, as his father, I command you to stop this nonsense. Go back to visiting Gallifrey as a normal human would. It's not important for us to screen every individual that enters the Citadel. It was never done before and you will cease doing so," The Doctor's voice was on the edge of angry. Forceful and irritated, were his words as he spoke.

Donna recalled in a flash, the last time he was like this. General Cob had insisted that the Hath must be killed. He'd stopped it but only just and that's when they thought they had lost Jenny.

"I'm sorry, Doctor, I truly am but his rule supersedes yours," The first soldier continued.

"How can it?" Donna stepped forward, "If the Doctor is Tybus' father then how can this sodding Prince have more sway?"

The Doctor took her hand in a firm grasp and squeezed it in warning. Donna's eyes darted to him for a moment and then she turned back to the men in front of them. Both soldiers seemed unperturbed by her rude language toward Gallifrey's royalty.

"Donna, I've been gone a very long time. In my absence, my title ascended to my son when they assumed I was dead. He gained my power. I can still use it for ceremonial purposes but beyond that, I can only petition the senate to grant me my power back," he turned to Jenkins, "And that's not very likely to happen is it?"

"It's not my place to say, Lord," Jenkins was no longer looking directly at them but rather at a point some ways off to their right.

"Right, are we cleared to pass?"

Donna took note of the Doctor's tone. He was very tense and his eyes were burning with an internal anger she did not often see.

"Yes, you're clear anytime you wish to enter as is anyone accompanying you," The first soldier replied stepping out of their way.

The Doctor brushed on past, Jenny and Luke following him but Donna stopped placing a hand on the soldier's shoulder.

"What's your name?" she asked softly. She was showing a side of herself she did not often let the outside world see. Beyond the yelling Donna there was a well of compassion much deeper than that of most people

"Denison. James Denison," he replied, "Captain."

"Captain James Denision, thank you for your help," she thanked, "And you as well Jenkins, for your honesty."

Donna smiled at each of them and then pushed her way through the crowd to meet the Doctor. He gave her a questioning look. She shook her head so slightly that she knew only he saw and then grabbed his hand yet again.

"Come on, Spaceman. I've got a daughter and grandfather to find," The ginger temp looked up at the sky, "And I think it's going to be night soon."

The Doctor nodded, "We'll have to find someplace to spend the night. I've not been here in centuries, they've probably changed everything. I don't know where to go. And I don't have any money. I've never needed money."

Donna nodded silently, lost deep in thought. Her eyes travelled over the golden spires that seemed to reach for the heavens and then over the people that wandered the streets. Many men and occasionally women dressed in robes of different hues passed them as they walked, increasing in number as they got closer to a central building. She could feel a great pulsating thrum, rippling imperceptibly through the ground and the closer they moved to the center of the city the more prevalent it got in her senses. A music accompanied it, sweet as the sound of a well tuned harp, wringing through the fibers of her body. She felt her hearts beating in rhythm with the song.

Something slammed sharply into her shoulder and she turned to yell and insult at the person but stopped at the return of the warning squeeze from the Doctor. A man, rather broader than the Doctor, sat upon a horse-like creature. He wore robes of brilliant scarlet that, had he not just knocked rather hard into her, she would have found made him look very handsome. Donna glared and opened her mouth to speak regardless of the Doctor's caution but was cut off.

"Tybus, nice of you to bump into my companions," The Doctor quipped loosely but with the air of reproach in his voice that did not go unnoticed.

Tybus appeared to study them for a moment and then the smallest of sneers twisted his mouth. "Father, I had heard you had returned, they say to collect your title." The prince eyed the other three people before his gaze returned to the Doctor, "I see you've replaced mum. Looks just like her too, but much younger. She got more energy than mum. You got yourself a filly to replace an old mare."

Donna felt the Doctor stiffen next to her and then realized what Tybus was referring to. She dropped her friends hand and stepped forward pointing a finger at the other Time Lord.

"Oi! Now I'm not gonna have anyone talking about him or me like that! Just because you're some spoiled rotten wanker of a prince doesn't mean I won't give you a piece of my mind. Make implications like that again and I'll knock you right off of your holy seat and down onto the firm ground where you should be in the first place," She fixed him in a deadly glared, gray eyes burning with rage at the young Time Lord's audacity and apparent hatred for his father.

"Feisty father? I always thought you preferred to be the most stubborn one in the room but I guess things change. Becoming a coward always helps," Tybus spun his horse creature and galloped away, parting the crowd roughly as he did so.

Donna looked after him her eyes narrowed in anger. She took a couple deep breaths and unclenched her fists. Her eyes transferred to the Doctor whose face was blank, and expression that she knew meant he was experiencing and extreme version of an emotion and trying to hide it. She glanced over her shoulder at Jenny and Luke, both of which appeared taken aback.

The ginger temp reached up and gently touched the Time Lord on the shoulder. This seemed to bring him out of his furious stupor.

"Right! We have a child and an old man to find and its starting to get dark." The Doctor walked off briskly, his pace catching his companions off guard.

Donna ushered Jenny and Luke in front of herself and then followed as quickly as she could. She was forced to run to catch up a few times. As the twin suns descended in the sky and lit the glass dome over their heads on fire with bright ochre flames, they approached the Academy's wide double doors.

Though she had seen memories of this place in the Doctor's mind, nothing had prepared her for the sight of the dark blue/green iridescent stones that inlaid the entry way. Donna forced her mouth to remain closed though she felt as though this was probably a good moment to let it hang open. They approached the entrance, she felt the thrumming in her mind even greater than she had before. It increased exponentially with each step she took overpowering her with its telepathic connection the rhythms of the city.

"Here, Donna," the Doctor turned to her abruptly, "It can be overwhelming at first. You'll learn to ignore it eventually but I can help for now." He reached forward as though about to press his fingers to her temples but she stepped away from him.

"You're not putting those fingers anywhere near my head," she snapped, for a moment succumbing to her instinctual fears of him toying with her mind, "Sorry, I know you're trying to help but I can't let you do it. I'll have to manage on my own."

"When we get in there the sound of it will be over powering. The notes and the rhythm will overtake your other senses." He seemed almost desperate to get her to allow him to filter her mind.

"I can manage, honestly. I'm not human anymore, you seem to forget that," she brushed past him and approached a small scanner inlaid into the gold of the ingress.

Donna tucked a strand of her loose red hair behind her ear and examined the instrument. She touched it with a single finger and then cocked her head to the side at the hum of energy through her body as she made contact.

"Neural Bio-metric scanning?" she turned to look at the Doctor with raised eyebrows, "Seems a bit overkill doesn't it. It's not as though Time Lords are a particularly violent race. War is not exactly common. What are they protecting against?"

"People who don't belong. Outcasts who have abandoned the way of the Time Lord," The Doctor, lifted her finger from the scanner and placed his own hand over it, "They won't let you in; you're not registered with the Academy or with any of the Chapters. I, however, can grant you permission to enter."

'_Donna Noble,_' a voice spoke quietly in their minds_, 'You may enter now, your daughter is a true mystery, she must learn with us. Doctor, it has been such a long time since we have seen you, and our people have missed your company. Please, bring you daughter and her mate forth so that she may learn our teachings.'_

Donna pursed her lips at the Doctor and gave him a mocking look that left him sputtering internally. With one hand pressed to the soundlessly opening door, she slipped past him and on into the complex of Time Lord education. Instantly, she wished she'd allowed him to tamper with her mind. The pounding of her blood inside her head was nearly too much for her. It brought tears to her eyes from the pain of it whereas the music seemed to sooth the aches it caused, each contradicting the other. For many moments, she could see nothing more than red and white and black and then as the sounds left her she became aware of her surroundings.

Beads of sweat were on her brow and she must have been in the state of in between longer than she had thought for she was once again being supported by the Doctor. Though he was concerned she could see a sliver of triumph in his eyes that gave her the urge to slap him. She refrained however and twisted to lift herself from his arms. Donna straightened her clothes and looked around to see if anyone had noticed. She glowered back at a pair of Time Lords who had been leering at them and then sighed.

"I did warn you," The Doctor commented quietly and then helped her steady herself.

The ginger temp gave him an expression of least amusement and quipped, "Stuff it, Spaceman."

She heard a short burst of laughter from her left and saw that Jenny had been overcome yet again by teenage giggles. Donna shared a glance with her Time Lord companion and then set off ahead of them. Catherine was here somewhere. Her daughter was somewhere in this compendium of shared knowledge of the universe, probably having the time of her life. As much as she was loath to take her away from all of this, she was not certain she wanted her daughter growing up here and being taught here.

Donna still was not certain she knew how her telepathy worked. Still she could feel the girl's familiar presence and could follow it to its source. She was scarcely aware of the passages that she traversed her concentration on her daughter's consciousness was so great. On final turn and there was a door, glittering in her mind with the brainwaves of purple blue she'd felt. The temp hurried to it, but found it locked. She turned to the Doctor.

The Doctor pulled the sonic screwdriver from his jacket pocket and adjusted the settings. He then pointed it at the door and a few seconds later the lock clicked. Donna wasted no time in opening the door. She stopped where she was for the girl was not alone, and her only companions did not just extend to Wilf and Hubble but to a woman with black hair and silver eyes and two a pair of red-haired women who look very much alike and shockingly similar to herself, if she had been thinner. She blinked for a moment and then there came a cry from Catherine.

"Mum!" Catherine launched herself up from the bench she'd been sitting on and hurdled across the room.

Donna bent a bit to catch her and then wrapped her arms tightly around her. She gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead and then one on the cheek.

"I was so worried about you," Catherine commented, "I could tell that you and Da were spinning out of control in the vortex and I couldn't begin to think what had happened to you. I knew you wouldn't leave Gramps 'n I behind though. Did something happen with the temporal stabilizes or perhaps maybe the gravitational enhancer?"

Donna smiled at her daughter's babbling and then let go of the little girl, "I missed you too, and I was so worried about you."

"Well, I would have still been there if that sodding soldier hadn't decided I should be kept in the academy rather than playing in the fields.

"Catherine!" both Donna and Wilf cried simultaneously at the young girls apparent disreguard for proper language.

"Poor Gramps nearly had a heart attack when he saw this place up close! Then they forced us into this room and locked us in. Later these three got here after they completed their bio-scans. They said something about me being part of the house?" Catherine paused to take a breath and then went to continue.

Donna shook her head having looked up at the Doctor smiling. Her expression faded with the change in his countenance. She had expected him to look be happy to have received his second daughter back but instead he appeared torn. Donna stood up straight and followed his gaze to the taller of the red-haired women. And suddenly she realized who this woman must be. Memories resurfaced in an instant, whether from her mental connection with the Doctor or her own mind recalling ancient things, she did not know.

_a/n- Wow yet another chapter up and done. This is going to much longer than I had originally anticipated but hey, isn't that always the way it is. Okay so, funny story, I live in America and I have an amusing habit of looking at the caller ID on my phone before answering it. If I don't know the number/person, I pick and accent and answer in that accent. Yesterday, I answered in a Cockney accent, one I've gotten rather good at of late seeing as I've been watching so much Doctor Who and it turned out to be a friend of my mum and dad who seem thoroughly confused. I had to introduce myself and then apologize. It was really rather amusing to me and the rest of my family. _

_Anyway, enough stories. I seem to be becoming very good at making the ends of my chapter rather ambiguous but giving you just enough information to figure them out yourself. Haha, you must think when you read. I apologize, being couch bound for the better part of two days due to illness is rather annoing and I find I'm feeling rather Puck-ish. I'd like to thank my two wonderful reviewers, Seiya's Star, who gives such wonderful reviews I find myself updating just to read them, and Son of Whitebeard who's heartening words give me the strength to remind myself why I endeavour to write at all. _

_Oh before I go, is there a chance that anyone else reading this monstrosity might review as well. They really are the fuel to my human ingenuity and imagination._

_Tabitha of MoonAurora_

_And yes, you are perfectly free to hate Tybus. I personally find it rather likely that most people frown on the Doctor's unconventional behavior. I must point out though that Tybus only behaves the way he does because he felt The Doctor abandoned his mother and also because he is very used to having more power than he needs. His wonderful phrases in here are not the only thing he does._


	10. Black is Nigh

Donna slipped toward the door, pulling Jenny and Catherine with her. The others followed, seemingly sensing the urgency of her actions. She shut the door and then leaned against it, uncertain of how she felt about this latest development. She closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths, steadying herself against the wall.

"Donna," Wilf reached out to her and wrapped his old hands around her shoulders, "Oh my dear Donna, we thought you'd been lost."

"I'm fine Gramps, really." She replied returning the hug, a tears welling in her eyes "Honestly, if anyone should have been worried it was me. You were left alone on an alien planet. I was scared to death."

"Aw, you don't have to worry about me, child," Wilf smiled the lopsided smile of the elderly, that somehow made him all the more endearing, "I had Catherine to take care of me after all."

"I'm sure you did," Donna glanced at the little ginger-haired girl, her gray eyes soft as she watched her talk to Jenny and Luke, gesticulating with her hands. A little smile danced on her lips as she watched the girl mime something wildly. Luke and Jenny started laughing.

"She's a good deal like you were, Donna," Wilf commented drawing his granddaughter's attention back to himself, "Determined, willful, caring, smart."

Donna smiled at him but shook her head, "No. I never was quite like her. I spend every day wishing I could have been."

"Of course you're like her. Take it from a man who watched you grow up. She's the duplicate of you. You're, what is it, Mini Me?"

Donna couldn't help but laugh at her grandfather, "Thanks Gramps." In voluntarily she glanced over her should toward the door they exited through. Despite herself she wondered what was going on. She shook her head slightly, dispelling her idea of eves dropping, and then lowered her gaze to the floor.

"So, is what she said true?" Wilf asked, grasping his daughter's hand.

"Is what, true?" Donna ran over her most recent conversation with Catherine. Then it occurred to her what he was referring to, "Oh, in a way yes. Biologically he is her father."

"So you and he are…together then?" the old man asked awkwardly.

"Oh, no. No it's not like that. Not at all. She has his DNA yes but not from that." She paused looking down at the ground again to hide her flustered blush, "Actually, she has his DNA the same way I became a Time Lord. It's from excess regenerative energy. He blocked my mind, which was transformed instantly, and at the time I didn't have the capacity to hold all of the information of a Time Lord brain. Kind of like putting too much information in a computer. It probably wouldn't have been a problem had Davros not hit me with that stunner; it fused the Time Lord synapses with my human synapses and made me change too quickly for my body. Since the Doctor blocked my mind, the regenerative energy from there, since it had been activated, had to find and outlet. When the right trigger came along, it created her from my DNA and his." Donna finished explaining and looked at the old man.

Wilf appeared lost in her explanation. His mouth was open wide and he appeared relatively shocked, "I think I only understood a bit of what you just said." He commented.

"Then nevermind, the point is, we're not together." She clarified and then gave a small chortle of laughter, "Can you imagine mum's face if we were though?"

Wilf laughed momentarily and then they both dissolved into companionable silence. Most grandchildren did not have such a close friendship with their grandparent but she supposed that Wilf had always been around when she needed him. He'd lived with her and her mother for as long as she could remember, holding her when times got tough and sheltering her when her mother would nag her. Donna knew she could trust her grandfather.

"That's his family in there. His wife and his two daughters," she commented nonchalantly.

"He has a family?" Wilf's surprise seemed to be growing by the moment, "And they're that old?"

Donna nodded, "He's 905 Gramps, not as though it's bothering him though." She smiled to herself, "Anyway, he's live the last century of his life thinking they were dead. And they were in a way. That part I haven't really worked out yet. I think it's going to take the both of us to figure out what happened here."

Donna stared out the great crystalline windows over the city. She hadn't noticed they had climbed quite so high in the citadel, looking for Catherine. Below her the city shimmered in the fading light. Inside the dome, the sky appeared normal, stars sparkling against a slowly growing midnight sky. Two suns sunk so far below the distant horizon that the light from each left only a bronze sliver showing across the landscape. Donna's gaze settled on another complex of buildings situated next to theirs. It was grander and more massive than the one they were in and all the windows on the upper floors opened into hers. She felt something stirring, deep within those towers. Something massive reached out to her.

A hand touched her shoulder and she jumped slightly, just barely restraining a little scream. Donna turned to see the Doctor behind her, following her gaze.

"Donna," he smiled, the happiest smile she'd seen him wear for a long time, "I have some people I want you to meet."

The Doctor grabbed her hand and towed her over to the door, pushing it open with his foot. Donna followed him though it wasn't as though she had a choice. She smiled still and slid into the room after him, his enthusiasm seeping into her. Then, quite suddenly she was face to face with his family.

"Donna, I would like you to meet my beautiful wife," the Doctor dropped her hand and stood beside the tallest of the red-haired women, giving her a lingering kiss on the cheek, "Verianna. Verianna, this is the brilliant Donna Noble, my best friend and companion."

Donna watched Verianna's expressions. The time lady had at first appeared cold and aloof but now that she looked properly, she was and open person full of life. Her gray eyes held a twinkle of energy that could not be dampened and also a fierce determination that she herself could identify with. The ginger temp smiled in greeting and extended a hand to her. Verianna took it and returned the smile though perhaps a bit hesitantly. In her eyes were a twinkle of doubt, but it was quickly gone.

"And these are my two daughters, Meridine and Lyibrine," The doctor let go of his wife and came to stand between the two other Time Ladies.

Meridine's expression was cold. Her eyes were set in a narrowed way that made even the warm chocolate brown color that she possessed appear colder than the arctic. She stared at Donna with a gaze that if looks could kill, the ginger temp would be dead. Donna turned her attention to Lyibrine, who seemed to have inherited her father's personality and her mother's ceaseless determination. Her hair was black and fell in a long cascade down her back making the fact that her eyes were silver stand out even more.

Donna smiled at her and Lyibrine returned the gesture and then stepped forward to embrace her. The ginger temp automatically responded similarily, taken aback by the human action. The Doctor grinned at her from his position. Lyibrine released her, still grinning a wide pretty smile.

"It's nice to meet you Donna Noble. The universe sings your name and yet little do they know of you," the woman's silver eyes twinkled.

Donna nodded unsure what else to do.

"It's an honour to meet you as well Lyibrine," she answered and then looked at the Doctor.

He seemed to understand her discomfort and took her expression to heart.

"Right, well," he piped up, "I think it's time for us to retire," he turned to look at her, "Donna," he offered her a hand which she took without thought, the action nearly automatic now, simply a way for them not to lose each other in a crowd.

Donna felt eyes follow her, boring into her neck and she turned to see that Meridine was still glaring at her with eyes that burned like dark fire. She shook her head, suppressing a shudder and then dropped the Doctor's hand. Catherine ran to her, dragging Hubble, miserably behind her. Her daughter grabbed her hand and walked along beside them, observing each of the new people.

Donna sighed as they left the Academy and entered the streets again. It felt as though a pressure had lifted off of her chest but she could not name what that pressure had been. They travelled a few yards down the road and then entered the building she had been observing from the Academy, the one where the energy had been watching her. She felt it again the moment she passed through the gates. The pressure on her chest returned as well, harder this time as though something were trying to squeeze the life out of her.

Shaking off the feeling, or at least pushing it aside, she looked down at Catherine. The energetic little girl was not longer energetic but rather dragging her feet. She'd given Hubble back to Luke and was now dragging on her mother's arm for support. Donna stopped, stepping out of the way of Meridine, and picked up her daughter. Catherine had grown heavier since when she last carried her. She stood with the little girl balanced on her hip and then followed the Doctor's family feeling somehow weighed down.

"Mum," Catherine whispered quietly.

"Yeah," Donna responded in an equally quiet voice.

"Meridine does not trust you," the little girl whispered, "Watch out for her."

"I'll be alright, Catherine. You know that," She replied, "And she'll learn to trust me. I've not done anything that should make her think I'm untrustworthy. She'll come around."

"I hope so. Otherwise our stay here will be very difficult. She has much power. They all do." Catherine's voice faded as she finished the statement and Donna was left to ponder her words while her daughter slept against her shoulder.

They approached a great staircase in the center of the atrium of the building. Donna glanced upward at the height of it and sighed wondering how she could possibly climb all of those stairs with Catherine draped over her shoulder. Her thoughts were interrupted by the shuffled footsteps of a woman. She was a female time lord but Donna could tell she had not desired training. Her knowledge was limited and her powers somewhat diminished compared to those of the Doctor. She limped atrociously.

"Lady Verianna, I have been awaiting your arrival. It is not like you to be so late," the woman ducked her head and then eyed the companions of her employer.

Donna observed that the woman's leg had been broken badly. But it was not right for her to limp as she did. Gallifreyan medicine was some of the best in the universe. It could mend bones in a mere heartbeat and certainly cure a limp, but this woman had obviously had nothing done to help her. The Earthborn Time Lady narrowed her eyes slightly. The longer she stayed the more she noticed was wrong.

"Come with me, My Lady, we must reach the Sanctuary before the eleventh stroke and it is nearing." The young woman looked around urgently, almost as though she was afraid.

Donna watched Verianna, Meridine, and Lyibrine follow her as they rushed off to the center of the staircase. A lift sat in the middle that she had not noticed before. The Doctor fell back beside her and grabbed Catherine from her. Donna looked at him startled. He shook his head and beckoned for the others to follow. Donna wrapped her hand into his and they hurried forward onto the lift. She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt everything spinning around her and then opened them again. They reached the top floor of the building in less than a second.

"Temporal folding. But that shouldn't be…" Donna trailed off as she realized the Doctor was tugging on her hand.

They were nearly running down the hallway now, and she could feel the Doctor was every bit as confused with the situation as she was. From what either of them knew, it was a peaceful planet filled with peace loving people. The maid opened one of the doors along the hallway.

"Lady Noble, I am told that you are not a blood relative of the royal family therefore it is forbidden that you stay with them. Your quarters are here. I would hope they are to your liking," the maid pushed the door open and ushered her inside.

Donna turned to gaze at the Doctor, extending her hands for her daughter. Wilf and Luke hurried past her as did Jenny, none wanting to be in the way of whatever happened after the eleventh stroke.

"Catherine and Jenny stay with their father. They are blood relations." The maid stated.

"What?" Donna and the Doctor questioned in unison.

"Oi! I'll take my daughter. I've been separated from her once today, I don't want to lose her again. He's not even really her father, she just calls him that!" Donna took Catherine in her arms and held her close.

"Lady Noble, you lie, but I will allow you to keep you daughter for the sake of the eleventh stroke," the maid nervously looked about and then beckoned to Jenny.

Jenny turned and gave Luke a quick kiss on the mouth and then followed her sisters out of the room. The Doctor gave Donna a hug and a look that conveyed to her what she needed and then shut the door behind him as he left. There a click and the door sealed itself.

Donna licked her lips unsure what to make of what had just happened. In a daze, she lowered Catherine to the ground. Her daughter looked up at her, a serious expression on her youthful face. Soon though, the expression dissipated and the child noticed her surroundings. Donna too, felt a sense of peace come over her. The room she had entered looked exactly like her home on Earth. It was decorated the same way with the vaguely floral furniture she hated and the medium wooden bookcases she liked. The windows even showed the same things as before. Mrs. Fletchly, the next door neighbor was sitting out on her lawn reading a book by the light of a tiny lamp on the back of her chair, which she could just barely see over the wooden fence. Looking out the kitchen window she could see the hill where Wilf had sat and watched the stars.

She wandered around the space, shocked at how familiar everything was though she was on a completely separate planet with an infinitely more complex society. Donna sat down on the couch, her hand folded together and clutched between her knees as she thought. It all felt so wrong. Everything was just the slightest bit different almost imperceptibly so, but enough to make it feel wrong. Her Time Lord mind was working in overdrive trying to make sense of the way things were. She closed her eyes listening to the sound of her twin hearts beating in her chest. The longer her eyes were closed the farther she sank into herself, dissolving into time and space and the void in between.

{{DOCTOR WHO}}

The Doctor leaned heavily against the wall feeling his chest inflate as he watched his family work around him. His absolute elation was undampened even by the wrongness of the world around him. In fact he had barely noticed the changes, he was so distracted by his wife and daughters.

"Father," Lyibrine placed a hand on his shoulder, a soft smile spreading across her gentle features. Her hair was lifted above her neck in many loops and curls and for the second time that day he wondered how the little girls he had raised could possibly be so beautiful or even be fully fledge Time Ladies, and even more, Princesses of Time, "I have something to show you."

The Doctor followed her back a hallway and around a couple of turns. Lyibrine opened a door to a room of soft blue. She crossed the room to a crib and lifted out a young child, even younger than Catherine. She walked over to him and held out the little boy.

"This is your grandson, Rysillin Tiberion Lungbarrow. We call him Rys. You have two others and one granddaughter,"

The Doctor took the child from her and felt the smile that had been on his face since he'd seen them again grow considerably. The little boy cooed quietly and grabbed a hold on the tallest section of his hair. Rys pulled it and cooed happily again. The Doctor winced and detatched the child's hand from his hair and settled it back over the boy's chest.

"How old is he?" he asked, still in a sense of euphoria.

" Nearly a year," She replied.

"Who's his father?" The Doctor asked partially curious and partially hopeful that his daughter was actually married in the first place.

"His name is David Garret. Human, obviously. He's helped a lot with advancements in technology around here. We started working together when the planets came together, part of the first cooperation efforts, and then we fell together, collided. Next thing I knew we were married and I was expecting little Rys here." Lyibrine swept a strand of black hair out of her eyes, a glowing smile from ear to ear, "Rash I know, but I was in love and it was magical."

"Where is he now?"

"Back on Earth helping with the integration efforts. Not every human is as open minded as your companions. They often do not see us as fellow thinking creatures but as a threat. I'm afraid they've faced too much invasion to fully accept us as a neighboring species." The doctor's raven-hair daughter looked at the ground in vague anger, "They cannot see that we are a peaceful race with no wish to hurt them."

"They will come around," The Doctor handed back his grandson wistfully, giving the young child a gentle kiss on the brow, "Humans are an amazingly versatile race and so young their minds are just developing. I have faith in them."

His daughter lowered the baby into the crib and then turned back to him beaming, "I've missed you so much dad." Lyibrine leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek, her arms wrapped around his neck.

{{DOCTOR WHO}}

When Donna opened her eyes it was to shaking. Someone was shaking her shoulder.

"Donna," a nervous voice filled her ears as she woke blearily, "Donna wake up, sweetheart."

"Gramps," Donna murmured groggily lifting herself from her position on the couch, "What is it?"

"It's Catherine. I was asleep in my room and I heard her screaming. She won't wake from her nightmares. She keeps thrashing and hitting whatever touches her." Wilf's voice was shaking and scared.

Donna sat instantly upright, her senses suddenly alert. She pushed herself up off of the couch and hurried down the hallway. She could hear the screams and cries of her daughter's distress echoing through the door. Ginger hair flying in a tangled knot behind her, she pushed open the door forcefully and rushed to take her child's hand.

_Catherine, its mum, _Donna reached for her mind, felling the frantic pulsing of the girl's dual hearts as she held her hand, _It's mum. Wake up. Nothing is going to hurt you, you are safe. I'm here, right here beside you. Come back to me. You're safe._

The little girl's thrashing stopped and dissolved into shaking as the girl awoke from her sleep. Donna let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding and then wrapped her arms tightly around the six year-old. Tears prickled in the corners of her eyes to match the ones streaming down her daughter's face but she refused to let them fall.

"He was staring at me, and he wouldn't stop. He's here and he's coming and he won't let me go. His hands were like ice but I couldn't see them. They froze to my body and wouldn't let me move. I wanted to run, but all I could do was scream. The eye has awoken and the time has come to fight. He's watching us, always watching us and he wants you and me. His eyes are empty. He is like the heart of a star but one long dead and collapsed. There is nothing left but nothingness." Catherine shivered, her voice harsh and steady though she was sobbing, "Mum I can't go back to sleep, not after that. Don't make me go back to sleep. He'll find me again. HE won't let me go."

Donna held Catherine all the tighter and turned to Wilf, "Could you get her some water?" she asked softly and then turned away, "shhh," she hushed, rocking the frightened child in her lap, "It will all be alright. He won't hurt you. I promise. You will always be safe with me."

Donna felt her daughter relaxing and drifting off back into a fitful sleep, but she found herself unable to reach calm. Her mind was troubled with thoughts of what her daughter had said and she wondered now if what she'd spoken was the truth. She felt a chill run through her spine and the sound of the ever musical song playing loudly in her mind, but there was something dark and oppressive about it. Something sinister. It was wrong too. The world was becoming wrong. She shivered against the growing cold she felt in her body and every second she thought about it, it became just a little bit harder to breathe.

a/n- not exactly a happy chapter but I can definitely say I can't wait to write the rest of this. I think I should mention not all of this will be resolved in this installment (if everything goes as planned.) I plan to write a sequel as my universes and ideas for a singular plot line seem to go on forever. I think you'll really like this. So what did you think of Doctor the Dad, pretty cool huh? What about the rest of his family? Tell me what you think please and don't hold back I love to hear your opinion and I also love to write family scenes (that's why there was so much Donna/Catherine/Wilf family relations in here. And also Doctor/Lyibrine/Rys interactions) Whether you like it or hate it, tell me. I'm happy either way because at least I know I emotionally effected you in some way.

Review pretty please, I might even go through my transcendental chest and find my Sicorax skull! Or perhaps my spare sonic! OOH! I know, Thin Mints, you'd love those right?

Tabitha of MoonAurora


	11. Veridian Conversing

There was a knock on the door and Donna groaned, opening her eyes to bright light. She sat up scratching her head and then looked at herself. She was still fully clothed in a chestnut leather coat and jeans. Her shoes seemed the only thing that had been removed from her body before she'd gone to bed the night before and she wondered if she'd gotten drunk.

It was in that moment that she realized that beside her in the bed laid her little daughter. The child laid peacefully asleep, her chest rising and falling evenly. Donna looked up to see two women standing in the doorway to the room. Cloudily, her memory recalled them to be the Doctor's wife and daughter, Verianna and Lyibrine. She noted that while Lyibrine still wore the dazzling friendly smile, Verianna's was somewhat forced.

Donna shed her coat as she stood from the bed and kissed Catherine on the temple. Then she slipped into the kitchen, past the two women. She pulled open a few cupboards and then emerged triumphant from the third with a tin of tea bags. Pulling the kettle from the counter and placing it on the stove, she began to boil the water inside. Brushing her terribly mess ginger hair out of her face, she turned to the two women.

"I'm being rude," She stated bluntly, "Have a seat, please." Donna gestured at the chairs surrounding the small table, "Would either of you like tea?" She looked up from the counter at them.

"Yes, I would thank you," Lyibrine replied and joined her at the counter, "Mother, will take some too but she won't admit she likes it."

Donna smiled at the Doctor's second oldest daughter and searched through the cabinets for something to use to make breakfast. A movement out of the corner of her eye, made her look back up from her work. Lyibrine was pulling what appeared to be an entire loaf of French bread out of a bag tied around her waist. A satchel of what appeared to be an apple hybrid followed it and then a stick of butter.

"Don't tell me," Donna laughed, "Transcendental money pouch?"

"Correct," Lyibrine set about tying her hair up out of her face, "You're doing well in our world Donna Noble."

Donna stared at her for a moment. She was about to speak when the kettle whistled and she shut her mouth again in a rather somber expression. The ginger earth woman turned away, taking the kettle from the stove and pouring some of the boiling water into three separate mugs, which she carried over to the table and set down. She returned to the counter to collect the tea bags and then seated herself in one of the chairs.

Donna dipped the tea bag in her tea, waiting for the water to break apart and absorb the molecules. She didn't look up from her task but was acutely aware of the eyes that were watching her.

"So Donna," Lyibrine flopped rather ungracefully into the chair next to her, "Tell us, who are you?"

Donna raised her gray and gold eyes from the cup of tea she'd been stirring. She looked between the two Time Ladies. Each gazed back at her intently, as though they expected her to know what they were asking.

"Excuse me?" She felt her voice rise slightly in tone.

"She means to ask you what you are," Verianna answered quietly, though her voice regardless of the volume, was strong, "My husband has told us of your adventures together," Donna sensed a hard edge to the woman's tone that made her heart sink slightly, "And we know a bit of their outcome ourselves, having been saved by you several years ago, but it seems to me that from our seal in time to the time we emerged, you underwent a great change."

"Again I must ask, who are you?" Lyibrine's voice was hushed as she spoke.

Donna folded her hands around the warm cup on the table in front of her and took a sip.

"I can honestly say I don't know," she replied, "I've been told that time folds itself to me. Again and again people say it and then wonderingly stare at me as though I am a god of some sort."

"You became a Time Lady by your own means," Verianna pressed, "You have no notion of how that occurred.

"According to the Doctor, and the little bits I determined on my own," Donna took another drink of her tea, "I absorbed some of his regenerative energy, when I was dying aboard the TARDIS in the heart of the Crucible. Instead of killing me, like it should have, it was used to heal me and also to generate a human version of the Doctor. At the time I didn't notice I was anything more than a temp from Chiswick and couldn't do more than use my limited knowledge of the TARDIS to fly us out of the center of the ship and back to the control room. The human Doctor, John, helped me obviously. When we got back on the ship I was hit by a stunner which activated the Time Lord part of my brain that had been growing in my head since the meta-crisis. Then I was able to help the Doctors reverse the reality bomb and eliminate the Daleks." She paused and cast a glance over the two women listening to her, "My mind was burning, my human mind anyway. Had I not been hit by that spark nothing would have happened to me immediately. I would have changed and developed into a Time Lady but Davros' stun lightning connected the synapses between my human brain and my Time Lord brain, fusing them together before my body could adapt to function with the information a Time Lord carries. The Doctor did the only thing he could do and saved me by blocking my memories from me. That gave me time to adapt. My genetics changed over time and evolved to turn me into what I am now."

"And you fully understand all of this. It's not just speculation from a human sense," Verianna stated regally.

"I fully understand that I am a Time Lady, yes," Donna replied a hint of irritation in the rise of the sound of her voice.

"So long as you understand the ramifications of what it means," The Doctor's wife looked at her sternly, "Have you begun to listen and to hear?"

Donna stared at her thoroughly for a moment and then answered slowly, "I have heard the Heart of Gallifrey inside my mind. I can feel the pulse of Omega's non-star in my body and the coursing of the song of the Eye of Harmony through my veins. I hear it all."

Lyibrine shared a glance with her mother as Donna watched and then looked back at her.

"We do not mean to anger you, Donna, but there are things that we must ask, things we must know and you can tell them to us," Lyibrine stretched a hand up the table and placed it on her shoulder, "This has never happened before and you are so very different from us. We are curious."

"What about all the other bloody humans wandering about your planet?" The red-head replied snappishly, addressing not the Doctor's daughter but his wife, "Why not examine their minds if you have a need to entertain yourself?"

"They are not what you are, Lady Noble. Their minds are dull and gray. At best some reach a pale mauve. And even only the brightest reach that." Lyibrine's voice had just the slightest hint of desperation in it.

Donna sat back her mouth closed. She was still angry but the way the black-haired woman sounded was so similar to the way the Doctor sounded when he was fighting get people to understand. She took a few deep breaths finding that now her mind had fallen into the rhythm of the universe, it was easier to calm her thoughts.

"My father said you'd respond like this," Lyibrine sighed, "Donna, you are no longer a human. You must stop thinking of yourself as something that is easily compared to their lesser race. It is no longer who you are."

Donna glanced sideways at Verianna. The slight creek of the chair the Doctor's wife was sitting in had alerted her to the Time Lady's change in position. She noted a faint crease in the woman's brow that revealed the woman's troubled countenance. The ginger woman turned back to the Doctor's daughter and nodded.

"Fine. I'll accept what the Doctor said." She conceded and then took another sip of tea.

A smile crept onto Lyibrine's face, "Perceptive. You know him too well."

Donna couldn't help but notice from the corner of her eye that the crease between her thin alien double's eyes lengthened some.

"I wouldn't say too well." She replied, hoping her statement would settle some of Verianna's concerns, "We're friends, like siblings, so we know what we have to so that we can look out for each other."

The crease nearly disappeared as the eyebrows of the Doctor's Wife climbed toward her hairline. Donna tried not to pay attention to the stinging in her chest she felt when she'd said like siblings. For a moment she recalled the man from Pompeii and his statement that they looked very much alike. She would have laughed if the Doctor had been present but he wasn't, and so she held back the response she would have given in to. But she and the Doctor were not like siblings; they were partners, though in what way she did not know.

Decidedly becoming more human to distract her mind, she looked at Verianna with a smile.

"So come on. You have to have some stories to tell." The ginger temp pushed, "How did you meet the Doctor?"

Verianna's eyes fixed on her surprised. It was almost as though she had uttered a phrase as scandalous as that line from that American pop song. The woman seemed beyond herself with the suggestion of telling her story. Donna smiled at her and quite suddenly the woman stood.

"You'll have to excuse me, Lady Noble," she stated and then left the room.

Donna glanced after the Doctor's wife and then at Lyibrine. The black-haired woman gave her a wide-eyed stare and then stood.

"There goes the party," She commented brushing out the folds of her skirt, "Anyway, Donna, I left some clothes on your dresser and made some fancy use of the Squareness Gun in this thing," She pulled out something similar to the Sonic Screwdriver the Doctor carried with him. She spun it through her fingers once and then repocketed it, "There's a door in your room that leads into the back of dad's closet. That way if you two want to talk you don't have to knock on the front door. I don't imagine Meridine has told the maid you are a welcome guest. Please though, come and visit. I'd love to hear all about your travels."

"Of course I'll visit," Donna smiled kindly and started clearing the dishes from the table, "You couldn't keep me away. Plus I want to see what kind of house a Time Lord keeps. Your father has a terrible sense of interior design."

"Absolutely atrocious!" Lyibrine replied with a laugh, "And Donna, don't worry about Mum. Once I explain to her what Catherine is, I'm sure she'll become more manageable. Meridine and Tybus have managed to snake their way into her head again. It won't take more than a couple of days to sort it out," she grinned, "And you have to bring Catherine with you when you visit." Lyibrine paused and added, "And Luke. Jenny was sulking this morning." The Doctor's daughter stepped forward and embraced her before quickly leaving the room.

Donna sat back down in the chair at the table. Her cheek rested in the cradle of her hand as she thought. She sat there a long while, just mulling over all that had happened. Mind wondering over the impossibilities of her current location, she began to draw conclusions. All the while though, she could feel something weighing on her, heavily. The suspicion that something or someone was watching her had returned but the feeling did not feel quite like that. Unlike the hair raising feeling she had felt before, there was only a mental sense of the observation. Quite suddenly, the ginger time lady sat up straight. She _was_ being watched, watched in her mind! Someone was going through her thought and her memories searching for something. Very subtly, they picked apart her consciousness like and archaeologist with the pages of a very old book.

Donna stood and pushed the chair roughly away from the table. It clattered but she ignored the noise. Her hurried footsteps brought her to her room where there was indeed the aforementioned door. Her hand close around the knob and she turned it. A pang of guilt flooded through her, but she pushed it aside. This was more important. She yanked the door open and was surprised to see a room on the other side filled with clothes that appeared to be from every planet, moon, galaxy, asteroid, comet, and otherwise in every color this universe and the next. Just as she wondered how she would possibly find the Doctor before whatever it was going through her mind, found the answer to its question, the was a loud crash and a large amount of swearing in at least seven different languages, none of which were even remotely human.

The ginger temp followed her ears to where a suit of seeming Roman armor lay on the ground and the Doctor stood, hopping on one foot. In the moment it for him to notice her, she had reached out to get his attention and her hand stopped somewhere in the middle. The Doctor looked at her with a blank but vaguely surprised expression that reminded her somewhat of a deer in the headlights look. Gingerly, the Doctor lowered his foot back to the ground and stood up straight. Donna took a moment to note that he wore only one sock. She would have laughed had the moment not been critical.

With a hand raised nervously to the scratch the back of his neck, the Doctor spoke, "Donna? How did you get in here?"

"Back door but that's not important," she answered, "I need you to block my mind."

"You should be able to do it yourself," he replied, and then the tone of her words sunk in and his eyebrows furrowed, "Why?" He extended his hands forward to touch to her temples and forehead.

"They're looking for your name." Donna replied, flinching slightly from his touch as his fingers touched her skin. Her memories from the last time this happened were bright in her mind "Someone is searching through my mind looking for your name."

"Why would they look-?" his voice trailed off and she saw realization and alarm in his chocolate brown eyes.

Donna pulled back for a moment as she felt him reach into her head.

"Donna relax, you have to breath for me to do this," The Doctor instructed and then it seemed that he too remembered their last encounter like this, "You can trust me this time Donna. I won't touch anything but what I'm there for…"

Donna closed her eyes and tried her best to keep her breathing even and her body calm. Her mind fought him, she could fell it and eventually she managed to wrestle its fight away, holding absolutely still both mentally and physically. She concentrated on breath, one breath in one breath out until she had calmed herself so much she was close to sleep. The ginger woman's eyes drifted shut and she blinked them a few times. The Doctor's fingertips drew away from her temples and cheekbones and grasped her shoulders instead. Her eyes shot open at this.

"Sorry, I was thinking you were human. I know its sometimes draining to have your mind tampered with," He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Did you do it?" Donna asked just to give him the satisfaction of telling her he had. She didn't feel like flaunting her Time Lord brain in front of him at the moment.

The Doctor nodded, his expression troubled. He stepped back and sank onto a bench she'd not noticed. Or perhaps it hadn't even been there until he'd needed it. Donna slowly walked over to him and, when he offered no objection, settled on the cushion as well. She folded on hand across her lap and placed the other on the back of his shoulder, lending him friendly support. She felt and shared his concern, though she could no longer feel the being digging through her mind. It must have by now realized that her mind was protected and decided to give up.

He looked up at her and opened his mouth as if to speak and then closed it again. Donna rubbed her thumb in absent circles as they sat pondering their discovery in silence, both staring at each other but not seeing their companion. Finally it was the Doctor who spoke, though it had been anybody's guess as to who it would have been. Both seemed to enjoy the sound of their respective voices so much.

"Why now?" he asked rhetorically, as he stood and began to pace, "And why _my _name?"

The ginger temp's gaze snapped on the circling Time Lord incredulously. She scoffed and he looked over at her.

"What?" he snapped.

"You really can't think of a reason?" she added brushing a tangle of red hair haughtily over her shoulder, "You're the Doctor. Everyone in the universe knows that the Doctor's name is a secret. Not to mention, I believe you had neglected telling me that you were a Prince, with noble family and heir status. Why would anyone want someone like that?" the last sentence was sarcastic, "And, on top of all that, you, unlike the rest of the self-possessed peacocks here, actually have connections in the universe. If they know your name, they can use it against you, name you, and then the last true Time Lord is gone."

The Doctor stopped pacing for a moment and stared at her his dark umber eyes meeting her blue grey ones for a brief moment and then he resumed pacing, "I'm a far cry from a true Time Lord, Donna." He replied, fingers rubbing his chin, "In fact I'm about as close as you come to being thrown from the chapters as one could get."

"Well, you were the first Time Lord I ever met. To me, a Time Lord is meant to regulate and act on time. Use it to be advantageous to the rest of the universe, "But that's not important. Right now we should be figuring out what just happened."

The time travelers lapsed back into silence again sinking deep within themselves looking for their answers.

a/n- Hello everyone, I'm, for the time being, back. I got a bit sidetracked; I'm already behind on schoolwork for the year.

Regardless, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm aware its not as up to snuff as my others but I felt I needed and update to keep the fan base (however small) for this story. I hope you're all well. (for the moment I'm not; Sinus infections/ear infections suck.) To those of you whom have it in your hearts to do me a great service, Review.

An-mhaith

Tabitha


	12. The Grayness of Ice

Chapter 10- The Grayness of Ice

Donna returned to her "home" after nearly an hour of pensive silence. Still with no answer for the itch in the back of her mind, she moved cautiously about her head. Each of her thoughts were careful and calculated, revealing nothing too important. What struck her odd was that, though she knew what they or it was looking for, she could not recall the Doctor's name, nor did it seem as though she had ever known it. She sincerely hoped he had not tampered with her mind.

"Mum?" Catherine emerged from the hallway that led back to her room, a concerned expression on her youthful face, "Are you alright?"

"Hmm," Donna mused distractedly, and then realized she what the child had asked and who she was talking to, "Oh, yes. I'm fine, dear."

"Are you sure? The cold wanted you. He wanted to pull you into ice, and night, and darkness," Catherine pulled out one of the chairs at the table and settled into it. She reached across the table to take Verianna's untouched cup of tea, "May I have this?" She asked politely.

Donna nodded, "Don't worry about me, Catherine. You know I can take care of myself. There's no need to worry. I promise, I won't let anything happen to me." She placed a hand on the back of her daughter's hair, "Not while I still have you to take care of."

"I know that you can take care of yourself, but we don't even know what is going on," Catherine placed the tea cup back on the table again.

Donna watched her for a moment lost in thought again, "And how can we defend ourselves against something that we know nothing of?"

"Exactly!" The young girl's voice exclaimed at her statement, "It's too dangerous!"

"Just dangerous enough," A new voice came from behind them and Donna turned to look over her shoulder, "Is this a typical morning for you two, sitting at the kitchen table making polite plans of action?"

"No," She responded immediately, the false affronted tone, one of habit, "Usually its quantum theory," Donna's eyes blazed with her sarcasm.

The Doctor dropped into the chair across from his companion and propped his chin on his hand. His gaze flickered from her to Catherine and then back again, one eyebrow cocked in an expression truly unique to him.

"So, from what I gather, whomever or whatever was trying to extract my name from your memories, Donna, is extremely strong telepathically." The Doctor turned his eyes to his daughter, "And I suppose whatever it is effected you differently that it did your mum, correct?"

Catherine nodded, "Nightmares, last night. Of course, you heard me talk about the cold. Whatever it is, is truly cold."

"Why didn't you come and get me?" he looked at Donna with concern.

Donna stared back at him for a moment and then gestured around herself, "We're on Gallifrey Spaceman, and, for whatever reason, there is a curfew. You daughter's wonderful Squareness gun did not connect my room to your closet until this morning, so I couldn't just slip out of my room."

The Doctor nodded, "There have to be ways to get around that. I wouldn't want to have you getting lost in my closet every time you wanted to talk."

"There are ways to get around a curfew, but first we need to figure out why there is a curfew in the first place," Donna lowered her eyes to her hands.

The Doctor nodded, "I couldn't agree more. I shall speak with my son later." He bit into a biscuit which he'd pulled from a plate on the table, "Now, getting back to the point, it's extremely telepathically strong which means…"

"It's either incredibly intelligent," Donna interrupted, "Or a combined consciousness. Perhaps, like the Ood."

"Mmm, maybe, but," He cast her an irritated glance, "Would you stop steeling my thunder?"

"What…" Donna smirked back, "The Oncoming Storm can't take it? Can't stand someone being as clever as him."

"Give me a break," There was a gagging sound from across the room, and the occupants of the table all turned to glance at the source. Luke stood there looking vaguely mortified but then crossed his arms over his chest, "What?"

The Doctor raised one eyebrow and Donna raised two. Catherine did something somewhere in between and then unabashedly hopped down from her chair. She broke the silence. In a few short instances, Donna watched her daughter transform from a serious, adult to a beaming child.

"Luke and I want to go see Jenny?" Catherine glanced imploringly, yet excitedly, at her parents.

Donna considered it for a moment and then nodded, "Alright, yeah, go and see your sister. I'm sure she misses you two."

Catherine smiled brightly and then gave Donna a kiss on the cheek and waved to the Doctor, "Thanks." With that, the little girl took Luke by the hand and dragged him out of the apartment.

Donna contemplated her daughter's split maturity for a moment and then returned her attention to the Doctor. He appeared lost in thought as well, staring at the door to the crystalline hallway beyond with an expression of consideration. She reached across the table and touched his arm.

"Doctor," the ginger temp from Chiswick spoke up with a soft, caring air.

The Doctor turned his gaze on her again, his countenance remaining the same though his eyes had softened slightly.

"What is it? What are you thinking?" she asked, brushing strand of flaming red hair from her face as she did so.

"I was thinking that Wilf is right about her," he commented distantly. His eyes slid away from hers as he made this statement, "She is a little general."

Donna glared at him, "Don't do this Doctor. Don't lie to me."

The Doctor's eyes connected with hers and for a fraction of a second she saw into him. Their link, telepathic or merely emotional, allowed her in. They shared for that moment, the same worries and fears, but then he stood and began to pace. Most of what she'd seen was gone like the light of a flashbulb on a camera. Donna's eyes tracked him as he walked small laps in the kitchen. He would occasionally pause and then open his mouth as though to say something, but then he would go back to brooding. This brooding, overly-irritated Time Lord was more than she wanted at the moment.

"I don't want this Donna," he finally stated, slamming the butt of his hand into the counter of the kitchenette, "It's all wrong, like someone is playing a sick joke on me. This isn't Gallifrey."

"I know," She replied, her eyes looking away from him to examine the milky brown liquid in the cup clutched between her hands, "But it is. Everything about it is more than real; it's alive and awake."

"But it's not the Gallifrey I know," The Doctor looked at her, pain desperately hidden behind a curtain of false anger.

"It's been a very long time since you've been here," she gazed sympathetically at him, "Life doesn't just stop because you've run off. When you're gone time keeps moving. Governments change, laws are made, society keeps going, growing. They don't stop cause you're gone, Doctor." She brushed her hair out of her eyes again and left her cup on the table as she crossed the room to stand in front of him, "The best you can do, we can do, is figure out what changed and try to fix it."

Donna looked up at him again, her hands making their way to his shoulders. She gave him a gentle shake, and a reassuring half-smile, "Different when it's your planet that's in danger isn't it?"

The Doctor looked back at her cautiously. He still leaned against the counter, his hands shoved inside the pockets of his trousers. His lack of a change of mood bothered her. He rarely ever sunk this far inside himself. There had been a glimmer of something when he'd first arrived, after the anger and fear had dissipated, a spark of light, hope and excitement in his eye, as though he couldn't wait to see his home again. Perhaps, she thought, it was the broken expectations of progress he had hoped to see that had dragged him into his depression again. Though the Doctor never admitted it, she knew him too well. Underneath everything, underneath his tie and suit and trench coat, underneath the excited alien, man who whisked people off to unimaginable places, was someone incredibly sad.

"Hey," she laid a gentle hand on his cheek. Donna felt the skin there move as he directed his full attention on her, "Your family waited for you." She paused, "When it comes right down to it, that's what really matters isn't it?" She paused again to let the words sink in. The temp saw a flash of realization in his chocolate eyes, and watched as the darkness and hurt that had filled them faded away, "Now," she lowered her hand slowly to her side again and then stepped away from him, "We have a job to do and, if I'm right, it'll take the both of us to do it."

Donna turned away from him to clear the table but not before she caught the flicker of a small and slightly amused, quirk of his lips. She hid her own soft smile behind a curtain of vibrant, ginger hair as she lifted the plate of biscuits from the table, and retrieved a few of the half-drunk cups of tea. She moved them from the table to the sink and tossed the Doctor a towel.

"There you are," she stated as he caught it, "Make yourself useful and help me dry these."

The Doctor, still silent, took one of the dishes from her as she lifted it from the soapy water she'd filled the sink with. After a few deft wipes with the towel, he set it down and took one of the tea cups as it was handed. Donna finished with her part of the washing long before he finished his drying, and she watch him with a level of amusement, as he awkwardly and meticulously rubbed the dishes dry.

"You'd think you'd never dried a set of dishes in your life." She commented as he up-ended the last tea cup on the counter and laid the towel down.

"Well I haven't done it with a towel," he replied, his voice vaguely offended, "A sonic works just as well if not better."

Donna laughed at his defensive tone and then slid the dishes into the cabinet. She made sure to show him exactly where they all went for next time so that he could put them away after he was done with them.

"Donna? Who's that with you?"

Donna let her laughter die away and then smiled at her grandfather as he entered the kitchen, "Morning Gramps. Would you like a cup of tea?" She offered, lifting the still hot kettle from the stove, "Spaceman's doing the dishes." Donna threw the Doctor a smirk and then continued back over to the table.

"Ah," Wilf glance conspiratorially at the Doctor and then nodded, "Good Morning, Doctor." He turned to his granddaughter, "I'd love some tea Donna."

"Same to you, Wilf." The Doctor wandered back over to the table, "And when did I volunteer to clean the freshly cleaned dishes?"

"Don't start whining about it, Spaceman," She poured the tea into a cup and then placed the kettle back on the stove. Lifting a hand she flicked her fingers, imploringly.

The Doctor sighed and reached into one of his pockets, pulling out the sonic screwdriver. Donna closed her fingers around it as he placed it on her palm and then slid it into her own pocket. She then flopped into one of the chairs at the table across from Wilf.

"So, Wilf, how is a new planet agreeing with you?"

Donna watched the Doctor move across the room, prior troubles seemingly forgotten for the moment. Then again perhaps he was hiding them better. She took a deep breath and then let her mind drift away from the conversation. The itch at the back of her mind was beginning to hurt again, as though the being, or mechanism, whatever it was, was trying even harder to get in. The ginger Time Lady inadvertently glanced at the Doctor for a moment and then immediately diverted her attention as the prodding became a stabbing pain. She bit her lip and closed her mind as tightly as she could, digging into the Doctor's memories to do so. She ran a hand over the hair at her temple, lips pursed in concentration and then let out a breath of air as she felt the stabbing pain slip away.

"Donna?" The Doctor's attention was back on her again, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine." She replied quietly, "Just got a lot on my mind."

Donna didn't miss the narrowing of his eyes. He knew she was lying. Thankfully, he did not address the subject in front of Wilf. She pulled herself up from the table.

"I suppose that we should go and fetch the TARDIS if at all possible," Donna commented, unsure why she suddenly felt the need to be alone.

"Yeah," the Doctor conceded, "Wouldn't want anyone trying to take her. Then you'd all be stuck here."

"I'll just go and get changed into something…else," Donna gestured over her shoulder, vaguely.

"And I should tell, Veri where I'm going,"

The Doctor stood from the table as well and then two companions uttered vague comments of departure to each other. They disappeared in their respective directions. Wilf was left in a bewildered silence, feeling as though he had just missed a vital part of the conversation. There was also the nagging suspicion in his mind that his two previous tablemates, had a lot more complications coming to them, sometime in the future.

"Oh my dear Donna," he uttered quietly as he set his cup down on the table a rested his cheek on his hand, "Can't you ever find anything simple."

{{DOCTOR WHO}}

Donna slid herself into the skirt and tunic. She examined herself in the mirror with a critical eye. She had circles under her eyes. Too much had happened in too short a period of time and with her brain humming constantly, it was a wonder she was getting any sleep at all. Now she had no problem realizing why the Doctor was never far away when she would, on occasion, awaken in the night after a troubling dream. She never had to wake him.

The ginger-haired woman smoothed her hands over the creases in her creamy/white tunic and then tightened the royal purple sash around her waist. That completed, she brushed her hair together into a loose bun at the back of her head. Effects complete, she applied her make-up then re-evaluated. The darkness under her eyes was gone a bit now, as were the exhausted lines around them.

Satisfied, the temp, made her way out of her room and into the apartment. Her grandfather sat on the couch, a manual of Gallifreyan electronics in his hands. Donna smiled and waved to him as she slipped through the door.

The corridor outside bustled with people. Someone sheparded a group of interested looking humans along with deft motions. From the crowd of people, she spotted the maid whom had directed them to their rooms the previous night. She smiled at the woman, but the maid gave no indication that she even noticed her and shuffled on her way, each step halting and lurching. Donna turned to her right, a troubled glow in her eye as she strode purposefully up the corridor toward the Doctor's home. She was about to touch the small glowing 'button' beside the door when it opened.

"I was wondering how long it could possibly take for you to get ready," The Doctor quipped teasingly in greeting.

"Less time than it takes you," she replied, grasping his tie and forcing it into the proper position, "Really, men say women take forever." She rolled her eyes and slid past into the room hidden behind him.

She glanced around what seemed something akin to a fairy tale courtyard. Great columns lined where there should have been walls but weren't. Runes and carvings lined the crown of the room and multicolored vines hung in great overgrowth from what must once have been draped ropes. Donna smiled as she spotted a fountain in the corner of the room, water bubbling from it with a purple hue. Catherine sat there with Luke and Jenny, sketching on a solid floor with a piece of what appeared to be charcoal. The ginger-haired woman glanced over her shoulder and then proceeded carefully further into the room.

Of course the gentle breeze that blew across her was only present due to technological enhancements, but all the same, the view from the small couch by one of the walls was breathtaking. Momentarily, she remembered Pompeii and the family who had bought the TARDIS from the vendor. She recalled their home and all the odds and ends the warm drafty place was filled with. An appraising glance around her revealed a similar though infinitely more complex assortment of odds and ends. Perhaps they were a testament to all of the places the Doctor had been before the fall of Gallifrey. Donna's original intention had been to settle in one of the chairs by the fountain and tell Catherine where she was going, but that was lost as her eyes were drawn to an intricate globe. She crossed the room in a matter of seconds, turning it ever so slightly with a fondness that was not her own.

"Gallifrey, the whole of it." The Doctor commented coming to stand beside her, "I-"

"Yes, you won it during an IQity Competition on Farshnee." Donna brushed her fingers over each of the planet's ridges and mountains, "I didn't expect to see anything like this here." She grinned widely and gestured around, "I think your wife has it knocked as far as interior design. Compared to this, the TARDIS is just weird."

"I take great offense at that." He replied, sounding insulted.

"I'm sure your ego can suffer it, Spaceman," She glanced around the room one more time and then hurried over to Catherine.

"Greetings Mum," Catherine looked up from the sketch that Jenny had taken over.

"Hello Catherine," Donna paused, and then continued on, "I wanted to let you know that the Doctor and I are going to recover the TARDIS. Anything could have found it by now."

Catherine nodded her head and stood from her drawing. The little girl stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Donna's waist, "Alright, just be careful. Lia says that outside the Citadel, there are wild Time Lords. They don't like us or the laws of pacifism."

Donna licked her lips and glanced down at her daughter's head for a moment and then bent down to kiss it, "I'll be careful," she whispered, "and besides, if anyone knows what to do with rogue Time Lords, it's your father."

"Are you calling me a rogue?" he asked in mock offense.

"That was the idea, Spaceman," She answered and then placed another kiss on Catherine's head, "I'll be back tonight. If you need anything, talk to Lyibrine."

"I think I rather like the sound of that. Rogue," the Doctor mused as he wandered over to join them, "The roguish Doctor."

Donna rolled her eyes and shared a glance with Jenny. The blonde teen pulled herself up from the edge of the fountain and walked over to give the Doctor a hug. Her large brown eyes closed as she wrapped her arms around her father. Donna let go of Catherine and pulled Jenny into an embrace as well. When she let the girl go, she noticed that there was a slight frown hidden under the teen's dark eyes, betraying that she was troubled. Upon realizing that Jenny was not going to be forthcoming with her concerns, she resolved to confront the girl later.

"Alright, Donna," The Doctor held out a hand to her, which she took without hesitation, "Alonsy!"

Donna smiled a genuinely happy smile and allowed the Doctor to lead her, hand-in-hand, out into the corridor.

a/n- there was a bit of Doctor/Donna in there if you squint. I love the ending. And I can't waitto here was you think about this chapter.

An-mhaith,

Tabitha of MoonAurora

And just in case you didn't catch that subtle little hint, review!


	13. To Balance the Wheyght

To Balance the Whey-ght

Donna had been intent upon heading directly to the TARDIS, but once outside the Doctor's apartment, her eyes were met with the stunning view out of the highest windows of this particular apartment tower complex. She pulled on the Doctor's hand, loath to let it go and also loath to miss this opportunity to see the Citadel with her own eyes. The ginger Time Lady stopped in front of the glass her eyes travelling across the great expanse of commerce that the Gallifreyan capital was. Markets lay below, canopied stalls peddling wares of their own production to the humans she could see wandering among the streets.

A fountain sprinkled multicolored 'water' across a group of what appeared to be young Time Lords, playing in the summer sun. Donna smiled, relaxing herself a bit. Momentarily, she leaned in to the Doctor's side, their contact so natural and so common place that neither noticed the change.

"It really is beautiful," She commented quietly, ginger hair gilded by the mid-morning sun.

The Doctor shifted beside her and she felt his gaze fix on the top of her head. The woman tore her eyes away from the city and met his in and curious stare. It didn't surprise her to see the trouble in his chocolate eyes. The city below was not perfect and she knew she was simply denying that it wasn't. There were things that had become immediately apparent as wrong, things that appeared as part of the innate senses her genetically transferred Time Lord brain afforded her. There were advantages to sharing the Doctor's consciousness.

The Doctor turned his focus back to the view outside the clear crystal window. Donna's attention lingered, observing his stance and his furrowed brow. His tongue, she could tell, was pinched between his teeth as he contemplated the scenery. She felt her hand slide from his grasp and glanced downward. His hands were both tucked neatly into his suit pockets giving him the appearance of being casual. The former human knew he was anything but, at the moment.

"Yeah, I suppose it is." He agreed finally, though the reply carried it sincerity with a tinge of regret and longing, "It's been a long time since I've seen it properly."

Donna flicked her eyes over him again and then turned toward the landscape outside. Her eyes burned a bit as she looked at the Citadel, in all its splendor, and she pretended that the tear she flicked away from her cheek were because of the brightness of the sunlight on the golden rooftops. She even told herself that it was the case. Donna opened her mouth and the closed it. The Doctor moved his weight from one foot to the other again and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, we've got a TARDIS to find," He broke through her mood like a pick to ice.

Donna nodded, flicking another tear from her eyelashes the minute his back was turned. She took one last look at the city. It did not seem so beautiful anymore. The third time she returned her gaze, it was as though the wrongs had begun to stand out. Perhaps she'd first seen it as a human would, perfect in every way, and then she'd seen but not noticed the transition as her Time Lord memories took over. The ginger haired woman grabbed the Doctor's hand and allowed him to lead her down the spiral staircase.

The street below was filled with people, just as she'd seen out the window high above. Now though, she could make out the details of their faces and distinguish between humans and Gallifreyans. Donna held tightly to the Doctor's hand, unwilling to lose him in the tangled mess of Earth tourists and robed Time Lords. She couldn't help but notice that there were some that wore robes and others that merely wore clothes as she did. Something in her memories stirred, but it too seemed changed from the memories. There were more people in the gypsy-like clothes and less in the robes than she, or rather the Doctor, remembered.

She glanced up at him and saw his brow was, predictably, tightly furrowed. He was doing and even poorer job of hiding his agitation than he had been earlier, and the former human woman found that fact troubling.

"Donna?" a voice pulled her from her thoughts and she looked up.

They'd stopped, or rather she had. The ginger Londoner had been so lost in her own thoughts that she'd forgotten to keep her feet moving. A gap had formed between them, spanned by their hands. She shook her head, glaring slightly at the people who looked conspiratorially their direction. Donna let his hand go. Something felt very wrong.

Over the last few days she'd found her senses had been heightened. It was impossible for the most important woman in the universe not to notice the fluctuations in the time stream, and this spot radiated with them. It was not necessarily that but the fact that a group of Time Lords passed by without so much as a glance of concern.

"Give me a minute." Donna help up her hand, lips pursed in concentration. She walked forward a few paces. The pressure of the paradoxic energy lifted from her mind.

It was one thing to have a Time Lord consciousness, another thing to use it properly. She kept trying to return to the way it had worked on the Crucible. Brand new and so brilliant, everything had seemed. She'd known exactly what to do and how to do it. It didn't work as well, almost as though she needed to learn it. Now she ran a few calculations and then back tracked to the spot she'd stood before, measuring the difference in time energy she felt as she went. Then the former temp took one large step forward, removing herself completely from the circle. It was not large and the Doctor had probably walked right past it without noticing a thing.

"Doctor, can you come and stand here?" She looked at him imploringly, her own furrowed brow rivaling her best friends. The tight lipped expression gave her an air of severity and seriousness that she usually lacked.

The Doctor walked forward his eyes brightening slightly. She felt a small rise of pleasure at being able to pull her travelling companion from his dour mood with the promise of a new mystery. He stepped toward her and she took his hand again, leading him into the center of her circle. Donna caught a few people staring oddly, mostly humans, but the majority seemed to assume it was an alien thing and kept moving.

"Do you feel it?" she asked anxiously, stepping back out of the circle. Her gray/blue eyes followed his movements.

"Energy," He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the ground, "Paradoxic." He turned the sonic up towards the sky, "Did you-"

"Run any calculations?" She interjected, and noted he appeared a bit miffed again, "Yeah, radius isn't much more than four feet. It's a perfect circle."

The Doctor looked at her and then walked around the circumference of the area, screwdriver pointed at the ground and humming away. Donna flinched and closed her eyes. She pressed her finger tips to her head and staggered slightly. The stabbing pain was back again, but she was ready for it. She snapped her mind shut, as tightly as she could. The ring on her finger flashed slightly in the orange light, attracting her predicament to the Doctor's attention.

_Give it to me! _A harsh voice echoed in her mind, reminding her over the TARDIS.

She let out another gasp, fighting hard against the person. Donna let her anger take over and felt the fire of the stars burn through her mind, taking over everything and purging the presence away. With a soft groan, she collapsed to the ground.

{{DOCTOR WHO}}

The Doctor paced the circle a few times, sonic pointed toward the ground. It buzzed away taking in the data from the circle. He couldn't shake the prodding feeling in his mind, like he was missing something vital. The Time Lord paced the circled one more time, lifting the sonic to his eyes and examining it.

"Paradoxic energy, only small traces and its fading," The Doctor put the sonic screwdriver back into the pocket inside his suit and looked down at his trainers in though, "Paradoxic energy makes sense… especially with Gallifrey being place next to Earth and out of this time line. Even if it was only off a second it would be clashing with his time stream but, still, it shouldn't be fading, it should be increasing and calling to the Reapers." He turned as he heard a small noise from behind him, just in time to see Donna collapse to the ground.

The Doctor hurried out of the circle and dropped onto his knees next to his unconscious companion. He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a careful shake. He pulled out his sonic again.

"Donna?" He rolled the ginger woman onto her back and pressed his fingers to her neck. Ascertaining a pulse he gave her shoulders another shake, "Donna, can you hear me?" He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out the sonic again, holding it over her body and running it along its length. He pulled it away and glanced at it taking in the readings again.

"Hey!" a random voice called out and the Doctor locked up from his companion's unconscious form to see that one of the human was gesturing to a passing group of robed people, "Hey, can't you do something? Do you have…like… an ambulance or something?"

The Time Lord glanced up at the three Arcalians. The green robed men stared at him for a moment and then looked at Donna. The Doctor placed and hand on her shoulder, standing before them commandingly. This was part of the world he'd left behind, but all the same he was not about to let his best friend fall again. They stared at him for a moment and then turned instead to the human man who had asked them for help.

"The people of Gallifrey do not interfere in the affairs of others." One of them stated and then they turned to leave.

The Doctor fixed the three Time Lords with a furious glare. His eyes then settled on the spot where they were standing and something clicked. He stepped forward.

"That spot where you're standing, do you notice anything odd about it?"

The Arcalian who'd spoken before, turned to him, emerald robes lined with brilliant gold and massive arched collar giving him an even more odd look. When had he begun to think of his own people as odd?

"Odd, no. I am standing on stone, Doctor, there is nothing odd about it," the speaker looked at him with a peculiar expression, as though he wondered about his sanity.

"Then nothing feels wrong to you? You can't sense any remnants of anything, no energy, nothing?" The Doctor fixed the man with a firm and serious stare. It was imploring, demanding almost and then other Time Lord bowed his head for a moment before answering.

"There is nothing here, Doctor, and if I might offer a word of advice," The Arcalian looked up again, "If I were you I would leave. I would take your," the man's gaze flicked to Donna and his lip curled slightly, "companion and leave. In my time here I have come to know one thing. You are not as welcome to us as you would think."

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak again but closed it as he heard a soft moan from behind him. He turned his eyes away from the three Time Lords of the Arcalian Chapter and knelt next to Donna again. She had a hand held to her head, her eyes blinked as though she was trying to become accustomed to the light again. He immediately placed a hand to her forehead but it was swatted away.

"What do you think you're doing, Spaceman?" Donna snapped, pushing herself into a sitting position.

He sat back on his heels, letting out a sigh of relief. The Doctor ran his hand through his messy brown hair, the corner of his mouth quirked up just slightly. He stood and held out a hand to her and she took it, allowing him to help her up.

"Come on Donna, we've got things to do today," He shot a glanced at the three Time Lords watching them with narrowed eyes, "Lots of things to see."

The Doctor grabbed her hand and dragged her along the street a ways before stopping again.

{{DOCTOR WHO}}

Donna allowed him to tow her along. Her mind was running wild again but the presence she'd felt had left her. A temporary fix, she thought, reminding herself that though shutting her body off and retreating to her subconscious would help keep her mind's invader out, she couldn't go about collapsing everywhere. She shook her head as they came to a stop. At the moment, the thoughts she had were not nearly as important as those that pertained to the current situation. The Doctor was acting, very unlike the Doctor. The false expression on his face was to the point of being ludicrous.

She stared at him for a moment, asking him her question with the softness of her gaze. Donna watched him glance around and then he pulled her over by the base of a silver leafed tree and forced her to sit. She reached up in irritation and pulled him down beside her.

"Are you alright?" he responded, ever the master of evasion.

"I could ask you the same thing," She commented, laying a hand on his shoulder, "What are you doing, acting as though everything is fine?"

"You're the one that collapsed," The Doctor retorted, shooting her hand a look.

"Alright, let's not have a row! It's not worth it," Donna lifted her hand from his shoulder and placed it in her lap.

She let her eyes wander carefully over his face again. It wasn't cheerful as it had been before nor was it angry, but his chocolate eyes showed her an anxious, wary, countenance that she was not familiar with. She knew him so well, shared his mind, and still she couldn't grasp whether he was anxious about her or something else.

"I'm going to ask you again, Donna, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she replied quickly, looking up and then down. The ginger temp swept her hair behind her ear and then glanced over at one of the shops that seemed to be doing a steady business.

"Donna…"

She jumped as she felt fingers grab her chin and turn her face back around. The Doctor was so close to her when her eyes came to focus on his face that she leaned backward to get a better view of his expression. The Earth woman placed the palms of her hands on the ground to balance herself and then carefully removed his hand. The Time Lord stood and leaned against the tree trunk, arms crossed moodily over his chest as he stared away from her.

"Well how about you then?" Donna pushed herself up as well and crossed her arms huffily, "Lots of things to see? What do you take me for, a fool? Cause you'd be calling yourself one if you did mate."

The Doctor shook his head and turned to stare at her, "I would never call you a fool Donna. Just thought we should clear off before the people with guns started to get suspicious." He gave his head an odd twitch and she followed its direction, spotting a group of soldiers with crimson camo. Each carried a well made gun.

Donna looked at him and then inclined her head, "So, what else is on your mind then? That can't be all of it."

"We need to get back to that energy trace," The Doctor glanced back in the direction they'd come, "Only problem is, you caused quite a scene back there. What happened?"

Donna took a deep breath and lifted her eyes from the wide and busy street to the golden towers that loomed at the center of the city. They came to rest on the site of the presence she'd felt first in the academy. She shivered and drew her arms more tightly around her before answering.

"Your mental block isn't working." The Time Lady did not look at him, "Whatever it is that was looking for your name is still entering my mind. I…" she paused flicking her eyes over the sides of the buildings around them, "switched myself off to get rid of it."

"You,"

"Switched myself off, yes. I gave it only my dreams to feed on." Donna glanced up at him.

The Doctor looked bemused, "Wouldn't have thought of that."

"You don't have any human in you, Spaceman. I grew up working as a temp in offices where a computer virus can infect and entire system. If it's your computer that picked it up you get the sack," she stated matter-of-factly, "Basically, something invades your computer, you hit the off switch immediately before it can get to any information."

The Doctor's eyebrows went up as did the corner of his mouth. He appeared to Donna as though he was torn between being impressed and surprised. Donna smiled back, a bit smugly and then gestured.

"It doesn't matter anyway because I can't just go about collapsing everywhere now can I? Wouldn't work very well if we're being chased and all of a sudden this creature, being, whatever it is, attacks my mind and I just drop like a stone." She ran her eyes over the crowd of people around them.

"No, I reckon that might be a problem." The Doctor stepped over closer to her, "We'll work on that later. Right now, we need to get a sample of that paradox energy."

Donna held out her hand and stared imploringly at the Doctor. He stared back at her a confused and then reluctant expression on his face. She gave her fingers a twitch again just as she had earlier and shook her head.

"I'm not going to lose it. I just need it for a few minutes." Donna watched as he reached into his breast pocket again and dropped the sonic into her hand, "I'll have it back in a moment, Spaceman."

She smiled at him, her blue gray eyes dancing brightly and then she turned and slipped out from under the shade of the silver tree. Quickly, the former temp darted into the throng of people and allowed the foot traffic to shunt her along. Donna read the signs on the road as fast as she dared, allowing the walkers to jostle her a bit, just to keep up the appearance of being one of them. She spotted it quickly and was pleased to see that the three Arcalian men who had regarded her with such disdain had left and were nowhere to be seen.

There was a wall up the center of the street, keeping people out of the way of the gallifreyan equivalent of rickshaws, horses and other transportations. The ginger woman made a slow progress toward it and toward the point of the energy she'd felt. She stopped on the cobbles gazing down at the street.

Based on the angle of light from the buildings and the degree of change allowing for the time she and the Doctor had spent in discussion, she could factor in the simple changes of perspective from the shop signs along the road and come up with the exact location of where she had stood before. Donna was at the absolute center of the circle she'd been in earlier, but she felt absolutely nothing. There was no paradoxic energy, no lingering feeling of wrongness in that area at all. She lifted the sonic screwdriver to her eyes, giving it a basic examination before recalibrating the setting. Brushing a strand of red hair out of her eyes in a agitated fashion, she pressed the button on the top of the sonic.

At first, the little thing fought her but then the light came on brilliantly. A hum issued from the machine again, the loud buzzing filling the air like the sound of a swarm of very agitated bees. She allowed it to go on for a moment and then took her finger off the button, raising it to her eyes. The light on the tiny indicator screen flashed red. She attempted the same thing again, with little result. Just as Donna made a move to slide it into her pouch, she heard a loud whirring ding and felt the vibrations of the sonic force her arm to shudder. The light was still flashing but every third flash, the light turned green.

The newest Time Lady, flipped a few more settings through the dial and then pressed the button again. The sonic lit up, blue like always and then began to send out a sonar-like pulsing beep. She turned in a circle, holding it out. Nothing change more than the slightest in sound, btu when she followed the line of the screwdriver to the place it pointed, her eyes settled, once again, on the building next to the academy.

Donna flipped off the screw driver and lowered her hand to her side. She remained transfixed by the glimmering light bouncing off the building for a few short second but finally she turned her eyes away and returned down the street toward the trees where she and The Doctor had stood a bit earlier.

"Donna?" The Doctor was staring at one of the soldiers across from the small swatch of grass he was standing on. His eyes flicked briefly to her but she didn't meet them, "I do think that's out dear James Denison over there."

Donna squinted and then gave a troubled nod, "Looks like they think he's a bit thick." She gestured at a group of teenage looking boys who appeared to be mocking the aforementioned soldier, "Didn't realize young Time Lords were allowed to act like that."

The Doctor shook his head, "They're usually not."

He placed his hands in his pockets and pulled his coat back for a moment. His face bore a dark expression, his lips thin and brow ever so slightly pinched in disapproval. Donna glanced from him to the boys and the young soldier they were tormenting. She pursed her lips, her lower jaw forward in a set expression of anger and dislike. She looked up at the Doctor and before he could stop her from disturbing Gallifrey's culture, spoke.

"Well then they're still not are they?" Fire burned in the centers of her eyes as she turned away.

She felt the Doctor's fingers just barely miss her shoulder as she left him under the tree. Perhaps she wasn't always the wisest when it came to snap decisions but this she didn't regret.

"Oi!" Donna snapped as she reached the group.

James Denison looked up hopefully at the sound of her voice. A light of recognition entered his eyes and he opened his mouth to speak a greeting. She shook her head, light curls of ginger hair bouncing about her face as she did so. The young Time Lords turned to face her, expressions of contempt on their faces.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" She snapped, "You think you're special, think you're better than him?"

The three young men before her looked at her blankly. Then one stepped forward and spoke.

"In simple terms, yes," the Time Lord stated. He glared at her, arrogance and disdain filling his voice and his eyes, "You humans lack mental capacity to even understand what my people do, and military pawns like this soldier rely purely on physical prowess to advance in his world."

"Physical prowess? Is that really what you think it takes to be a soldier, to fight for a cause and to protect those you love?" Donna took a step closer to him, refusing to be intimidated by his passive aggressive mannerisms, "Captain Denison and men like him do not rely on their strength, but their courage, honour and decency. That does not make him less than you; in fact it makes him very much your superior." She let her words sink in.

"Such ignorance a race like yours holds for the realities of the universe," The boy, despite his exterior, stepped backward half a step. She could see that her ferocity had cracked his shell a bit, "You don't see that a world without interference is a world where every race can live in peace. You do not see that logic can govern better than emotions and careful tactics are better than wanton warefare. You are primitive."

"And what your race fails to see is that human emotion fuels their ingenuity. Emotion drives humans to form bonds and act in ways that logic does not allow. Humans use their emotions to make themselves great and strong and personally I'm sick of you Time Lords poking fun at my people," Donna glared a burning glare that seemed to make him shrink, "You're acting every bit as primitive as humans if you keep prodding decent men with naïve and childish insults. If I recall correctly, making fun of other races is not in the spirit of Gallifrey's culture."

The three teenage Time Lords stared at her for a moment, "What would you know of Gallifrey's culture?"

"I'm a Time Lady, you sod, but you were too busy poking at my general air of humanity to notice." Donna locked eyes with him and said, "I started out human though."

The young mean left after a few moments, leaving a nervous looking Captain Denison behind. He stepped forward and gave her a weak smile. The soldier appeared torn between fear and awe.

Donna cracked a smile and said, "I didn't bring down the Crucible with nothing."

"Thank you, Ms. Noble," the captain holstered his bio-scanner and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Call me Donna,"

"Alright then," he held out a hand, "Thank you Donna. That was more than I could have asked for."

She shrugged, "You're welcome, Captain."

"James is fine, or Jim," He grinned nervously.

Donna nodded, "Jim then. Captain Jim…"

"Oh please don't finish that sentence." The crimson garbed soldier groaned, and Donna laughed, "I have to be going. Got a bleedin' schedule to stick to."

"Alright, good luck then, Jim," The former temp waved as he turned and ran off back toward the gates.

She watched him go, with a sigh. If it had been a different time perhaps she would have considered asking him out. He didn't understand that for her it had only been a few days since Shaun's death, but his innocent and nervous attentions had reminded her so much of her husband. She sighed, pushing the pain aside for later.

The Doctor's hand touched her shoulder, and brought her from her revelry. She looked up at him, catching an amused expression in his ancient brown eyes. He was laughing at her. Donna hit him lightly on the arm.

"I think he's quite taken with you," the Doctor started to walk turning his gaze away. He took her hand in his own and she went along with him, matching his pace.

"Oh really?" She examined his eyes out of the corner of her own, catching other emotions besides his brimming entertainment that troubled her.

"Yes, clearly you fascinate him," The Doctor paused, "and why wouldn't you?"

"Let's think…" Donna started but she didn't get more than that out.

"You're brilliant Donna. You saved the whole of creation. What person in their right mind wouldn't be fascinated by you?" The Time Lord gave her hand a squeeze.

Donna was taken aback by his words of confidence and praise. Softly, she smiled again, "Thanks, Spaceman."

"You're most welcome," He reached into his pocket and came out empty. With a perplexed look on his face he checked a few of his other pockets, letting go of her hand to check inside his breast pocket. When he still had not luck he gave her a sideways look, "Donna, where's my sonic."

Donna let out a peel of laughter and held up the device.

a/n- Well, I was going to apologize for not updating but to put it in simple terms… I ain't bovvered!

To the stars!

Tabitha of MoonAurora

P.S. I discovered _real_ comedy last night! It was better than watching SNL's Will Farrell special!

P.P.S. – Yes, I know this chapter is rubbish and I am gonna apologize for that because there's no excuse!


	14. Lost in Cobalt

Chapter 12- Lost in Cobalt

The Doctor and Donna reached the gates and passed through them without and further interference. As they walked, both kept up a casual stream of pleasant, friendly banter. Some of it was familiar, poking at each other's faults, something both had become better at now that they could see the surface layer of each other's thoughts and actions. The rest was simply to distract them from the truth of what they 'd seen while walking.

"I thought Gallifrey had a moon," Donna commented thoughtfully.

"Well yes it did. Pazithi Gallifreya. The Time Lords colonized it when they first began their celestial explorations," The Doctor replied, his expression was equally pensive, but there was a soft distance to his expression as well, one that did not completely convey everything he was feeling.

They'd come to a stop at the climax of yet another burnet hill. Donna placed a hand on his forearm to bring him from his revelry. He glanced at her. She shook her head, directing her best friend's attention to a grey rock just barely visible above the grass. The former temp sunk onto the rock, with a good deal of exhaustion. She glanced around realizing that though they had been walking for several hours now, they still had not found the TARDIS.

"Lost now, I expect," Donna glanced up as the Doctor dropped onto the ground in front of her.

The Time Lord ran one of his hands through his hair and then, much to Donna's surprise, laid completely stretched on the ground. His arms reached out above his head. For a moment, she could picture him doing this as a young Time Lord. She did her best not to intrude into his memories, though she had them, but even so, she caught small glimpses where her mind strayed close to the recollections.

"Yeah, it would be." The Doctor's eyes were still distant as he stared up at the orange sky, "Either drifting in space or destroyed over the years. When Gallifrey fell, no one was left on the moon. The environmental controls failed and the terraforming that had given the moon a livable atmosphere was disrupted and changed by the Dalek's attacks."

Donna glanced understandingly down at him, a sad smile on her face, eyes softened in sympathy. Then she looked up and glanced into the distance, her eyes brows knitting together in concern. The sun was already beginning to set again and they'd still not found the TARDIS. Nothing existed around them but for tall scraping mountains, Solace and Solitude she identified, and rolling hills of grass.

"Doctor, correct me if I'm wrong, but we set out in precisely the direction for where we left the TARDIS in correspondence to the Citadel."

"Yes…" the Doctor sat up, and pulled himself onto the flat gray rock next to her.

"Oi! Leave some personal space, Timeboy," Donna snapped and then scooted over a bit.

"It isn't my fault this rock is too small for the both of us," he whined in return.

The ginger Time Lady rolled her eyes and then gestured at the air, "Shouldn't we have found the TARDIS already?"

The Doctor looked around as well and then nodded slowly, "Yeah," he paused expression thoughtfully blank, "yeah we should have."

"You're awfully nonchalant about the whole thing," Donna crossed her arms and stood, taking a few steps forward and sighing, "You didn't happen to bring a teleport band or any form of communication did you?"

The Doctor shook his head, brown eyes narrowing a bit as he turned to look at the sun, "Days on Gallifrey didn't used to be this short." He commented, "I didn't think we'd be needing one."

"We can both feel the ground moving as the planet turns, and you didn't feel the difference?" She quipped raising her eyebrows.

"Oi," He whined, "In my defense, it has been a long time since I've been here."

"I've never been here, Spaceman," The Earth woman stepped toward him and stared at the setting sun. Her crossed arms tightened slightly as a chilled breeze blew across them, "I expect it's the changes in gravitational pull. The center of gravity seems to have somehow balanced itself in between the two planets so that they rotate around each other as well as pull inward on themselves. I haven't quite worked that out yet. My guess is that some days there's hardly any light at all."

The Doctor nodded again, watching the orange sun send sprays of brilliant light into the air as it descended toward the horizon, "You've been thinking about this a lot have you?"

Donna shook her head, "It's more of…a feeling, I guess. Like I made connections without knowing how I worked them out. I couldn't explain to you how I know it." She gestured toward her head, "This is all knew to me."

"Having a head?" the Time Lord raised an eyebrow and looked up at her.

"You can be so thick sometimes, Spaceman," she gave him a gentle shove in the shoulder, "I meant being clever. Being brilliant even. I've always just been, Donna Noble, nothing special, nothing unique, loud, unintelligent and ordinary."

"I hate it when you say things like that, Donna," a hand grasped her upper arm and turned her away from the sunset.

"Things like what?" the red-head looked at him and was surprised to see and a bit of exasperation in his eyes. She stared at him hard, trying to read deeper but couldn't. He'd masked his emotions well and she was loath to admit that she couldn't break through the basic projection of feelings there.

"You belittle yourself, put yourself down,"

He stood and grasped both of her shoulders like she so often did to him and it was the first time that the newest Time Lady realized that they both had burdens to get past and they helped each other with them more than they knew. Best friends, best mates, partners, whatever anyone wanted to call them, they travelled the stars together and made the other better for it.

"It's true though. I'm human enough to admit it," She retorted, tightening her crossed arms defensively.

"No it isn't Donna. Do you think that any ordinary human would be able to come with me and do the things that you did? And I mean before the meta-crisis." He paused, "You helped free the Ood despite your original impression of them, you reset the teleport on the Sontaran warship, you figured out the dates in the tunnels of Messaline, you fought your way out of a computer in the library and learned what was and wasn't real there, you fought your way through years of destruction in a parallel universe where I'd died because you hadn't saved me." The Doctor paused and his eyes darkened a bit, "Tou placed your hands over mine and made the choice between Pompeii and Earth with me. But that wasn't anything compared to what you did later. Donna Noble, you told me to save someone, anyone, even just one person, but save someone. You taught me compassion and courage. Do you really think any average human could do that?" The Doctor's grip on her shoulders had tightened and he stared her straight in the eyes.

Donna only held his gaze for a moment, but the intensity in the Time Lord's eyes was enough to stop her hearts and then reset them to beating ten-fold. She was not an easily intimidated person but this course and raw emotion she could see scared her. His eyes, unimaginably old, and though she had his nine-hundred years of memories drifting about inside her head, she still could not fathom the vastness and pain of the life he'd lead. Donna, the former human, did something she had promised herself she would not ever do: she broke eye contact with him. The few curls of ginger hair she'd left to hang away from her bun fell down in front of her face as she took her grey eyes away from his brown ones. The gold at their centers had brightened just a bit with her reaction.

Something landed on the back of her hand and she noticed that she was crying. Donna wiped it off her hand and refolded her arms more tightly across her chest. She'd put her thoughts aside for the moment, shrugging away the enormity of his faith in _her_ not the other way around. It seemed preposterous that he should have put so much confidence on one single human. No, not a human, a Time Lady, born on Earth but made of more. The Doctor, of all people, was the one person in all of the universe who could tell her she was more than everyone had told her, and she would believe every word of it.

Donna felt the tears coming, this time more forcefully than before. She didn't cry, it wasn't in her character. They dropped onto her sandaled feet and onto her arms and hands without relenting. The ginger haired woman bit her lip to keep herself from making a sound; self preservation would keep her from degrading who she was that much. Under his hands, her shoulders shook with silent sobs of relief and of the epiphany of reality.

Whether the Doctor knew she was crying or he just felt as though it was the right thing to do at the moment, he pulled her up against him. Donna didn't resist his ministrations. She was done lying to herself. Without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around the Time Lord tightly, hugging him as though if she let go, one of them would drift away. She buried her head in his shoulder and allowed herself to cry without inhibition.

Donna felt a hand hold the back of her head in place against his shoulder. Not captive, but rather, gently, as though the Doctor was uncertain of what to do. He kissed her on the temple in a gesture of hesitant reassurance.

"All that?" The Doctor whispered near her ear and the ginger woman was certain that even if a person had walked past within an inch of them, they still would not have been able to hear his words, "All that and you still thought yourself ordinary?"

Donna could not reply and didn't want to. Her breath caught in her throat. She clung to her best friend all the tighter, unwilling to let go of the assurance her revelations were real.

Donna leaned back on her hands and gazed up at the sky. The auburn grass did not make a comfortable bed but it did make a reasonably decent pad for star-gazing. She glanced over at the Doctor. He'd been unusually silent since their sunset conversation. Other than a few muttered words as he was building a fire for them to sleep beside, he'd not uttered one full sentence, and for a man who preferred to hear himself every few seconds, this was cause for concern. His brow was furrowed as he stared at the orange flame. The former temp smiled wryly and then looked back to the sky.

Orion shimmered overhead, the first constellation she'd learned as a child. Wilf had taught her well; she'd always been able to name every one of them since the age of seven. Granted, she could name every star in the universe now. Every one of their names was burning in her mind. She could feel them all living and dying simultaneously. The Time Lady pulled the pin from her hair and let it tumble around her shoulders. She lay down on the grass, gazing at the hazy midnight sky. Here she was on Gallifrey, and they had the same constellations. She laughed quietly to herself and shifted a bit, placing her hands on her stomach. The irony of having reached this world and expecting another sky, only to look up and see the same familiar stars was too much.

She glanced over at the Doctor, grey/blue eyes dancing with fiery brilliance. He was staring at her out of the top of his eyes. Once again he was brooding and she felt her heart go out to him with sympathetic understanding. Donna caught his gaze and nodded her head to the side slightly with a flick of her eyes.

"Come on, Spaceman," she smiled softly, the kind of smile she knew brought a bit of light into his darkened chocolate eyes, "The fire can burn on its own for a while. Combustion reactions have occurred since the beginning of time."

The Doctor looked reluctant, but the ginger haired woman knew he would accept her invitation. She went back to staring up at the night sky and heard, rather than saw, the Doctor rise from his seat on the rock and walk toward her resting place. There was a small moment when she felt something, an odd fluttering, but it was gone in an instant and she forced herself to believe it had not existed to begin with.

There was a soft crunch next to her and Donna flicked her eyes to the side as the Doctor settled onto the ground next to her. They said nothing again as they lay side by side on the ground staring up at the twinkling silver lights above. The two travelling companions, for a moment, became the only two people in the universe who could see everything.

Donna glanced at her friend, her eyes sweeping over the brown trench coat and pinstriped suit. He still appeared troubled, lost in his thoughts and so she chose to pull him from them.

"So," the rhetorical ice-breaker slammed through the quiet, standing out more starkly than either could have imagined.

She sat up and looked down at him. His attention was now solely on her and not anything else. She'd succeeded in her intentions but now, the former temp was not sure how to proceed.

"Hmm?" the Doctor's faint, questioning hum, put urgency on her creative thinking.

Donna opened her mouth and blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "Where do you suppose the TARDIS has got to?"

"Wouldn't have a clue," he commented lazily, and to Donna it sounded as though he was falling asleep, "She powers down when I'm not there; makes fueling stops much less frequent." He paused again, "She doesn't usually wander off."

"Then I suppose someone else found the TARDIS and moved her," the ginger temp had not noticed that she'd also taken up fondly calling the TARDIS 'her' until that moment.

"Perhaps. With the way the life in the Citadel has changed, I wouldn't be surprised if there are thousands of Gallifreyans wandering about the planet outside the established hierarchy. If there was one thing that made Gallifrey flawed, it was the inability to accept anything that was different."

Donna felt the Doctor shift and heard the soft rustle of grass as he lifted a knee and turn his head from side to side. She moved a bit away from him to give him more space. She considered, as she did so, his assumption. It was entirely likely that there were many Time Lords and Ladies that lived outside the city. It would be as naïve as people from Earth believing that they were the only ones alive in the entire universe, which was incredibly statistically unlikely, even with the limited knowledge humans had possessed when she had lived there. He was very right about Gallifrey's fatal flaw, its insistence that the Time Lord's way was the only way and that all other existing races were inferior. Then even those in their race that chose to leave or had different opinions than the general populous were looked down upon. It was an incredibly amazing thing that a race that was so misanthropic would have progressed so far and so fast in the universe. And then there was this. She glanced at Earth, a bright orb hanging in the sky, like a giant moon. Comparatively, it must be like Pluto and its moon.

"Humans," she stated softly, observing a glints of silver that she assumed was a transport between the planets.

The ginger woman heard the Doctor shift next to her again and she assumed her must be looking at her.

"What?" he asked in surprise. His voice seemed unnaturally loud and she wondered whether she'd spent more time thinking that she'd thought.

"Humans," she stated again, lifting her hand and gesturing at the glowing planet floating in the night sky above them.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her quizzically. Donna turned her head to the side and looked at him, a smile growing on her face as she registered his confused expression.

"Sometimes you make about as much sense as Sycorax dancing the tarantella," he stated.

"We fight; we argue; we disagree." She paused and looked back up at the sky, "but not matter how much we disagree, there are always passions behind it." The ginger laid her hands across her stomach, "Love, hate, culture, anger, all you have to do is turn on the telly for a few minutes and you see it. Everything is fueled by emotions. We're so alive. And then I look at your race and I'm disappointed, Doctor."

Donna heard him shift again, this time much more abruptly, almost as though affronted by her statement.

"Not you of course, but you're so different than the rest of them. You're so open, so believing in the value of others." She reached over and grabbed the Time Lord's hand, giving it a friendly squeeze, "But out of everything I expected to come across, it was not this. I thought Time Lord's would be peaceful and obsessed with anything new and different, but they're bureaucratic like human governments. All of them." She shook her head, "It's just, a not anything like I imagined it would be."

A blade of grass tickled her face as a gentle wind blew up the hillside. She heard the faint rustle of the leaves on the silver trees and bit her lip. It had been so long since she'd had an honest conversation like this. Almost longer than she could remember. Despite the fact her words bore the depth of her mistrust for a race to which she now belonged, she allowed them to escaped her lips anyway. Her eyes fluttered closed only to open as moment later as the Doctor replied.

"There are many things that never occur the way we wished them to." He stated, "but we carry on. Make do with the way the universe flows."

The red-head glanced at him and then sat up again. The tinge of regret still filled his voice and she began to think back to all the times she'd witnessed his pain. The unpleasant recollections that she could see from their shared consciousness came to the forefront as well and she realized how her statements must have sounded to him. Looking around at the world, using his memories as a guide, she felt herself smile softly, in pleasure, at a world that had once been taken. Then the former human released his consciousness harnessing only his intelligence for her own purposes. She would leave his mind to him.

"I'm sorry," she touched his arm solemnly, "I suppose it's enough just to see it again."

The Doctor remained silent and then crossed in front of the fire to spread out on the ground there. Donna stood and then settled on a rock. Her eyes wandered over her companion cautiously. She felt a pang of guilt worm its way into her heart for a moment but then shook her head.

There were boundaries to what she could say as a friend, old wounds she couldn't reopen with her barbed tongue, but it was her prerogative to question him on occasion. Her job as a companion was to keep him in line, stop him when he needed stopped and knock him down when necessary. As a companion to the Doctor, though, she also had to watch where she stepped. Some places were too sensitive for her to touch upon and so, mostly, she steered clear of them, but there were moments like this when she showed she didn't always think.

Donna licked her lips, observing her best friend a moment longer. He appeared to be asleep but she could never really tell. Some days, she swore he never seemed tired, like he'd gotten the best nights rest the universe could offer, and then there were the days when he seemed to sag with exhaustion. Then again perhaps it was melancholy on those days rather than physical exhaustion that made him seem a thousand times older than any man should ever be. The Cheswick native shook her head and turned toward the fire, watching it dance under the, she couldn't call it moonlight. Her ginger hair drifted back away from her folded hands as she glanced skyward toward the glimmering Earth above. Earthlight, she thought, an absently amused smile washing over her features.

She turned back to the small fire. Little sparks jumped from the heart of the flame, burning out before they ever touched the auburn grass. The former temp slid off the rock and drew her knees up in front of her. Donna's eye lids began to drift shut and before she'd realized, she'd fallen asleep, the soft waves of the flames and cracks of the heated, silver wood lulling her into an absolute and deep slumber.

a/n- hoorah for the amazing filler chapters. Honestly, this was going to be more exciting and then I got pulled into the whole mushy friendship/romance talk and it all went out the window. Anyway, I'm anxious to see what you think of this latest chapter so, if you please, review…

Wotcher,

Tabitha


	15. Of a Bittersweet Persuasion

Disclaimer: I've been going through my fanfictions and realized that I am really quite terrible at remembering to write a disclaimer. I know, it should be obvious that I do not own Doctor Who or any other fandom for which I am presently writing fanfictions, but it is said that this must be done. So I shall say, in the simplest and least eloquent terms, that I unequivocally, incontrovertibly do not own Doctor Who. I lied about eloquence.

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to the wonderful Elisabeth Sladen, who lost her battle to cancer on April 19, 2010. Without her, we would not have had the experience and pleasure of meeting the brilliant Sarah Jane Smith, nor would children have had the ability to enjoy the action packed, engaging Sarah Jane Adventures. We thank you, Lis, and we will always miss you. Like every star that has ever risen in the sky, you will never be forgotten.

Chapter 13

Of a Bittersweet Persuasion

Donna was still stiff and sore. She was not used to walking so far in one day and even less used to sleeping in a seated position leaning against a rock. The ginger temp paused, watching her companion walk ahead. The Doctor had been unusually quiet. Where normally there was playful, friendly banter, there rested only silence. She couldn't say that she was used to the soundless travel, but it was not uncomfortable and each time she felt like speaking up, she would glance sideways at him and dispel the notion. Something about his demeanor asked her to speak without words.

Looking ahead of her again, Donna watched the Doctor. He'd come to a stop at the top of the hill and was staring at something, though she could not see what it was from where she stood panting. Shaking off her reluctant exhaustion, the former temp brushed her hair from her eyes and hurried up the hill to his side. He glanced sideways at her and raised an eyebrow. The ginger haired woman fixed him with a repudiating expression and then turned her gaze on to what he'd originally focused his attention. Her lips parted as she drew in a quick breath of surprise.

On the other side of the hill were small, but never the less pretty, houses. Donna doubted that these Hut-like creations showed the true size of the homes but the quaint feel it gave the otherwise untamed countryside amazed her. Her impressions of Gallifrey had been, perhaps, stereotypical. A small town consisting of small, but elegant homes had not been what she'd pictured. A flicker of movement caught the corner of her eye and she glanced down to see that the Doctor had extended his hand for her to take. Donna hesitated a moment and then threaded her fingers smoothly through his.

"What do you think?" he spoke for the first time since he'd told her good morning as she woke, "Shall we journey onward?"

Donna felt herself relax at the familiar warmth that came with the sound of her best friend's voice washing over her again. She smiled, "You have to ask?"

"Well then, Allonsy!" the Doctor's mouth slipped into a cheeky, wide grin and he set off at a leisurely walk toward the large group of houses.

Donna followed him keeping right at his side. She might not have needed him to guide her, but his confidence and spirit were extraordinarily reassuring. Her steps fell perfectly in sync with his as they wandered carefully down the hill. After so much time spent together, it was hardly unusual for her walk to match his, just out of habit. Instinctually she knew how he was going to move.

She tried to ignore her mind as they strolled through the knee high grass as though there wasn't a care in the world, but she could still feel the tingle of nagging doubt about the situation. Donna squinted her fiery, grey eyes at the settlement, trying to discern of what her mind was warning. Despite the foreboding churning in the pit of her stomach and then recesses of her expanded Time Lord brain, she continued alongside the Doctor without hesitation.

They entered the road a few minutes later. The soft russet dirt tapered off from the mahogany grass as they stepped on to the road. The former Chiswick temp absorbed her surroundings warily, her suspicion that yet another thing was wrong intensifying. Observing the house to her left, she caught a flicker of movement behind the window. The shining metal and glass hut drew on her taste for elegant, ethereal design. Inside a person stood peering through the glass with a nervous air. Donna watched the man's eyes travel over them but he made no move to come outside. She observed that though the day was unarguably beautiful, no one was outside.

"This is wrong too." She stated.

The Doctor, solemn and blank-faced again, nodded his head. She watch his chocolate eyes narrow as he stepped toward a dark stain on a roughed area of dirt. Donna let his hand go free as he stepped toward it and knelt. His hand went forward and lifted a small amount of the dirt from the ground. He licked the piece of earth, though she wondered if it could really be called that, and furrowed his brow.

"I know it but I can't place it," he held out his fingers, "Right on the tip of my tongue. What do you think?"

Donna glanced with an unamused expression at him and then reached over to pull the sonic screwdriver from the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

"Hey!"

"I'm not licking it. You might be inside my head, but I still have a bit of a perspective on normality,"

She knelt next to the stain on the rusty dirt and adjusted the settings on the sonic. Concentrating on the spot, she bit the inside of her lip and aimed the sonic at the ground. She flickered her eyes to the Doctor's converse for a moment, watching them shift impatiently on the soil road. The companion listened to the buzz of the sonic as it analyzed the substance on the ground. Then she lifted it to her eyes. Donna's expression darkened, saddening with the results. She stood and held out the screwdriver for the Doctor to take. The ginger woman could see his surprise at her sudden change of mood. His hand reached hesitantly for the device as though he wasn't quite certain he wanted to know the results.

The former temp licked her lips, crossing her arms over her chest. The Doctor's expression changed again, but she was not surprised that what had awoken sadness in her, drove him into anger. She could interpret his visage thought to anyone else his new expression was inscrutable.

"Blood," he stated tonelessly. The Doctor's hand fell to his side, the sonic almost slipping from his grasp. Donna watched his grip on the instrument change along with the tension of her friend's jaw, "Blood from a young girl."

Donna could say nothing. Tears had budded in her eyes and she unknowingly let them slide over her cheeks. Unbidden, her mind had flown back to the Citadel when the words were spoken aloud. What if it had been Catherine? Her mind betrayed her now, as images of her daughter, beaten, tattered or even dead flew through her mind. She bit her lip and took a deep breath, raising one of her arms to flick away the tears from first her right and then her left eye. Attempting to refocus herself, she reached out and touched her companion's shoulder, gripping the fabric of his suit jacket under lightly folded fingers.

The Doctor turned to look at her, his teeth clenched together in unspoken fury. To her, it seemed he was about to speak but instead he slipped the sonic back inside his pocket and slid his hands into his pockets. Donna watched him exhale deeply a couple times and then he spoke.

"This is so very wrong."He stated, his words enraged, "In the Gallifrey I knew, children never died." The Doctor looked away from her, his gaze darting from house to house, "let alone was killed." He returned to himself, his attention drawn from the huts to a rock on the ground which he nudged disconsolately with the toe of his shoe.

Donna looked around her, glancing from house to house as well. Her gaze was caring, and calculating. Her anger boiled just under the surface but she managed to channel it into a constructive activity. Each of the homes was unique and as she looked at them, different aspects about the character of each individual inside them. Her years as a temp had enhanced her ability to read people and with her Time Lord mind now intact and functional, she was able to take her knowledge of the "human" psyche and apply it to the appearance of each home. Her eyes focused on the third hut on the left from the spot where they stood.

"It's that one there," she touched the Doctor's arm lightly to draw his attention and then shook her head in the direction of the house. Her eyes, still filled with pain, took in his as well and she wondered briefly if he had thought the same thing when he saw the analysis of the blood.

The Doctor appeared deep in thought for a moment and then his expression broke, "Well done, Donna." He praised but without his usual enthusiasm or vigor.

Donna let him take the lead, heading for the house after sweeping a hand across her forehead to brush the a few strands of hair out of her eyes. She was hot and for the first time she realized that the day was perfectly clear with the sun shining down on them brightly. The earth woman halted beside the Doctor and waited as he pressed his hand to a Bio Scanner beside the door. Donna made a mental note about how abundant bio scanners seemed to be on Gallifrey, almost as though they functioned as door bells for the higher society. There was a beep from inside the hut and seconds later the shimmering metal door opened.

A woman stood in the doorway and from the moment Donna met her, she could tell she was a Time Lord. The neural transmissions leaving her mind were too strong to be human and a bit weaker than that of the other Time Lords she'd met so she must have been one of the outcasts that lived on the edge of society. The expression on her face, one of absolute hopelessness, was familiar to her. For the first time in nearly a decade, she remembered the children she'd had while in the library's hard-drive. If there was a child that had been lost, it had belonged to this woman.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor and this is Donna" the Doctor greeted, "I was wondering if we could come in."

The woman in the door hesitated, looking them over as if terribly suspicious but then she nodded and wordlessly stepped aside to allow them through. The Doctor pushed on past, entering the space confidently. His companion could tell he'd already started compartmentalizing his anger. Donna slipped through as well, turning her grey eyes on the Time Lady. The centers of them glowed with a sad light, orange and yellow and she gave the woman a reassuring, soft smile. The woman gazed at her unsurely and then gestured toward a small seating area.

"Please, have a seat," the woman's voice was soft and unsure, very unlike that of any Time Lord or lady that Donna had ever met. Even the maid had possessed a confidence about her that over powered her status. The former temp licked her lips wondering if this is how the woman always was or how she had become after her child's death.

"Oh, thank you," Donna settled onto a well-made, silverwood sofa padded by silk cushions.

The Doctor, as usual, was not sitting. He leaned by a shelf filled with what appeared to be several books. His arms were crossed over his chest, and though he appeared nonchalant, Donna could see the slight furrow of his brown and then tightness of his posture that betrayed his feelings. She glanced at his red converse; they stood out a good deal in the relatively subtle space. Disregarding her companions less than hospitable attitude, she turned to the Time Lady presently hurrying about the place as though it was about to be inspected.

"Would you like anything?" the woman asked, her voice still unchangingly hesitant.

"Oh," Donna glanced at the Doctor. He gave her an almost unnoticeable shake of his head, "No, but thank you." She let out a soft breath, "Really, there's no need to clean on our account. We're perfectly used to a mess." She paused and reached out to the woman stopping her, "Honestly, he's a whirl wind when it comes to cleaning. You'd think a tornado had roughed the room up after he's gone through it." Donna smiled slightly at the woman and was pleased to see that the Time Lady picked up on her attempt at humor. Her smile was returned for a few seconds and then the blond woman's smile slipped away again.

The woman shook her head, "Its nothing to do with you; it," she paused and swallowed heavily. Donna noticed that tears filled up the base of her eyes, "keeps me busy. Keeps my mind off of…the present."

Donna looked back over at the Doctor again, giving him a questioning glance. He looked at her blankly for a moment and then started, stepping away from the wall.

"I couldn't help but notice," he started boldly, as though he knew nothing of what had occurred, "that everyone is inside." The man stepped closer to one of the large windows and studied the view. Now, I don't know about you, but it is an absolutely lovely day outside and no one, not even a child, is outside playing. Do you know what that tells me?"

The ginger woman on the sofa shot him a disapproving glare and then turned to observe the golden-haired Time Lady's reaction. The woman gave a soft gasp, loud enough to barely be audible, and then looked at the Doctor sharply. Her eyes were open, blank and distant the kind of eyes that could stare at you and right through you without ever seeing. Donna had seen them on the Doctor a few times, when he'd thought River was gone forever or when he Jenny had died in his arms, but those eyes, no matter how cold and empty, she'd known she could bring life back into them. This expression was different and gave new meaning to a thousand yard stare. The crystal blue color the Time Lady had been blessed with, at least in this form, were as cold as the polar regions of the coldest planet in the universe and as dark, dead and blank as a black hole. Here was a woman who had given up hope, had given up her will to live entirely.

Donna watched her stare at him without speaking and then turned her eyes on his vaguely aggressive expression. She bit her tongue forcing herself to remain silent. She knew him and knew that his methods worked. Despite how much she wanted to defend the woman and shout at him for his inconsiderate impertinence, she kept her mouth shut and watched the woman shake her head fractionally.

"It tells me that something is wrong." He paused and paced toward the other end of the room, "and not just wrong, very wrong. Crisis wrong. Am I right?" his pressing tone was growing more demanding with each word. His demeanor had not changed either and her eyes spied that his fists were clenched.

The woman nodded soundlessly in affirmation, clearly intimidated by his unceasing attitude. Donna moved toward her a bit, trying to show the broken Time Lady she had support.

"So what happened?" He stopped his pacing and came to stand squarely in front of the woman.

The former temp watched the blond hair running down the woman's back quiver as she sucked in a shaky breath. She sank into a chair and then spoke.

"It was two nights ago. A group of chapter members came to the town." The blonde woman blinked her eyes drawing another breath, "They were searching for something but I could not tell what it was. They approached Trelandour, the Time Lord who lives in the first home as entering from the Citadel. When he didn't give them what they wanted, they took my daughter, Ellindra, and warned that they wanted it by the fifth sunrise."

"Did they say what they wanted?" Donna asked gently, cutting across the Doctor as she saw his mouth open as though to speak. She could tell that his method would have been even worse that his last. Donna took a firm hold of the woman's hand, closing it in her own.

"No. Not to my knowledge. They said they wished for the device that was stolen." she replied, her blue eyes showing the faintest glimmer of hope and gratefulness.

Donna turned her eyes on the Doctor immediately. His expression, though still bearing and underlying fury, was filled with self-aggravation. He lifted a hand to his head and ran it through his hair. His ginger companion felt the Time Lady next to her tighten her grip on her hand and realized that the woman was crying again.

"Oh," the Doctor was looking over his shoulder back in the direction of the citadel, "If that's the case then they're looking for…"

"The TARDIS, yes," Donna finished his sentence for him and then directed all of her attention on the woman sobbing next to her, "It'll be alright. They've only taken her. She might be injured but remember, she's alive." The former temp reassured the woman, "In fact we'll find her," She turned to the Doctor, "Won't we Doctor?"

"Without a doubt," he replied his voice so certain that even the wounded Time Lady on the sofa couldn't have disbelieved him. Then, the Doctor turned to look out the window again, "Well we'd best be off. We've a long walk back and a few more people to talk with."

Donna nodded in agreement, a few more curls slipping from her bun and falling in her face. She stood and felt a slight tug on her hand, having forgotten the woman still held hers. She made to let go but the woman shook her head, pulling her closer. The ginger Earthling hesitated and then bent to let the blond Time Lady whisper in her ear.

"His death was no accident," The time lady stated cryptically.

The breath Donna drew through her lips hissed as it passed between them, "What?" she choked softly.

"Shaun Temple's death was no accident. You've been telling yourself that it was just his time," the woman gripped her hand harder and Donna let out a tiny squeak as she felt the bones of her knuckles grinding together, "but it was not his time." She paused again, "Find the others." She instructed and then became silent.

Donna stepped away from her, the feeling of a knife in her heart had returned. She retreated to the Doctor and felt him grab her hand. He kissed the back of her knuckles and she looked at him sharply, unsure about this kind of contact. The Doctor's expression revealed nothing other than a concern and curiosity, so the former temp let his actions slide into the back of her mind, over ridden by the more pressing matters of the situation.

What did she know about his death? The woman couldn't possibly know anything; Gallifrey hadn't shown up until after her late husband's death. Though, Donna thought, not that long after. The planet must have appeared right after she left. She supposed there could be a connection. But Shaun? His only connection to Gallifrey war his family, herself and her daughter. Otherwise, there was nothing in common. He'd worked in a small, quaint book shop in London, nothing special or unusual about his job at all. Oh how she'd loved to come and visit him after she was done with work though. She'd lean against the counter, the smell of books around her making her nostalgic for something she couldn't remember. Donna pushed the thoughts away as she felt a lump forming in the back of her throat. The present was more important than all of that. She had what was happening here to worry about.

The Doctor pulled her out into the street, bidding the Time Lady farewell and promising to return with her daughter.

a/n- Why is it that I can never finish a chapter the way I had planned? Oh well, it's not as though it bothers me I just for once would like to have less in the chapter than I originally thought I would. Anyway, for my dear fans who have seen the first episode of Series 6…Oh My God can you believe it? It can't happen. It just can't. However I love the way Brits view Americans. It cracks me up. I love the external perspective! Also My clever reason for why Amy leaves the TARDIS is shot now. Oh well, sadly I think that means she shall be leaving on a much more depressing note…

Regardless, Wotcher,

Tabitha


	16. Russet and Ocher

a/n- so obviously its been a long time. A really long time. More than a year infact. It amazing how time gets away from you. Its a week, and then two, and a month, and then three, and so on and so forth until you completely forget that you have a responsibility to your readers. It's perfectly terrible. That said, I ask that you, my dearest companions, forgive me.

But now, while we're on this talk about time, I wanted to say a few things. In the more than a year that I've been absent, at least form this fandom, I have grown and changed, and like so many other times I've said this, my writing has grown and changed as well. Additionally, I am currently sitting in my University dorm writing this for you all to read, rather than my nice comfy, cozy bed at home. But such is life, and growing and the passage of time.

Unfortunately for you, the very simple fact that I am at University, ruins your chance of regular updates. That said, this tale is very nearly finished and though I do hope that I will be able to continue on from here (I have some other rather fantastic ideas) I can promise little that is concrete.

And so without further ado, I release you from this rather monotonous schpiel of useless drivel.

Onwards and Upwards

Tabitha

Chapter 14

Russet and Ocher

The day was bright as ever when Donna and the Doctor stepped out into the seemingly perpetual sunset. The orange sky stretched cloudless as far as her eyes could see. They did not take the time to stop and bask in the afternoon glow however. Hand in hand, the pair hurried up the street toward the entrance to the small settlement. The Earth woman found herself wishing that the Time Lords would come out of their homes just so the town didn't feel so lonely. She'd enjoyed the bustle of the Citadel even if it was overwhelmingly massive. Out here, nothing was happening and she was half expecting a ball of tumbleweed to roll across their path at any given moment.

The Doctor led her to the first home on the left. This house was more conservative with glass but the external walls were covered with Gallifreyan spirals. Donna stepped a bit closer to the metal wall and saw that the swirls were inlays of a dark crystal that she knew was certainly not from Earth. In fact it appeared to be a black version of quartz. Around the base of the hut were small tufts of grass and what appeared to be brightly colored flowers. There were a few blue, but most abnormal were the brilliant green flowers on the stalks of russet foliage. She smiled and release the Doctor's hand bending to touch one. The minute her fingers touched the feather soft petal, the flower folded into a tight ball. Donna drew her hand away in surprise.

The ginger woman stood and returned her attention to the door just in time to see it open. A Time Lord in a large, blouse-like tunic stood before them a decidedly emotionless expression on his face. Even so, Donna was so used to reading the Doctor, that she could tell from this man's mostly blank eyes that he was afraid of them.

"What do you want?" he asked hostilely.

Donna recoiled at his tone. The dark hair and dark eyes this particular Time Lord possessed did not endear him to her anymore than his attitude. He glared at them from under a darkened brow and kept his body firmly in front of the door. The ginger woman shifted, her gray eyes jumping away from the man and to the room past him. She could see movement but it seemed highly unlikely she'd find out what or who was inside.

"I'm the Doctor and this is Donna," The Doctor gestured to Donna vaguely.

She gave the unpleasant Time Lord a raise of her eyes brows to acknowledge his gaze as he glanced at her. The man's demeanor changed yet again and this time she noted he appeared furious.

"Would you perchance be Trelandour?" the Doctor's hands slid into his pockets and Donna watched him set his jaw determinedly.

"It wouldn't be any of your business to know." Trelandour, for that was now certainly his name, stated, gripping tightly to the door handle. He reached forward and poked the Doctor's chest, "Seeing as you've caused one of our children to be taken. We're paying the cost for your petty theft."

"Petty theft? No one was using her," Donna snapped, defending her friend at this man's accusations, "She was just sitting in a junkyard wasting away. All her circuits rusting! She was lonely." The ginger woman paused, "And anyway, he didn't cause this to happen. In case you hadn't noticed, the laws of your planet are falling apart at the seams and we're the only ones trying to stop it. We're the only ones who can. So you best shut your gob and help us find the TARDIS and Ellindra before his royal highness, Tybus does."

With her arms crossed over her chest and her nostrils flared, she appeared positively intimidating. Donna's grey and orange eyes caught sight of her companion's face as she shifted her weight, and she saw a bright smile open over his features. The Doctor briefly beamed at her. The former temp turned her frosty stare back on the man in the doorway and was pleased to see him shrink back a bit. The uncooperative Time Lord finally released the doorframe and let his shoulders sag.

"I don't know where they took the Ellindra but I would assume that they would have taken her back to the Citadel. As for your TARDIS, Doctor, I've no knowledge of it whereabouts now. For a while it was here." Trelandour gestured toward a narrow path between two of the cottages, "We were keeping it away from prying eyes, but it was gone at sunrise yesterday."

Donna glanced at the Doctor and he returned her gaze. The TARDIS moving around by itself was extremely unlikely unless under the most extreme of circumstances. Either they were facing an extreme danger, or the TARDIS had been parked incorrectly, and since it had been herself and the Doctor who had parked her, that was extremely unlikely. She uncrossed her arms and turned back to Trelandour.

"It was gone before they came?" she asked.

"Yes. The soldiers were here within an hour," The Time Lord shifted warily, casting a careful eye into the distance.

Donna too, looked about them, feeling the back of her neck prickle as though she was being watched. Upon careful inspection of her surroundings, however, she found that no one was present. The doors of the homes remained shut tight and nothing moved inside of them.

"Alright, thank you that's all I needed to know." The man drew the sides of his coat open and slid his hands into his pockets, "Allonsy, Donna."

With a troubled smile, he turned to her and gesture with his head toward the hill they'd climbed just an hour earlier. She nodded to the Time Lord, who was closing his door, and then returned her gaze to the Doctor. A sweet breeze blew across them and ruffled their hair. The ginger relished in the springtime feeling of renewal. Together they started the long journey back to the Citadel.

They had made it to the top of the hill before the Doctor reach out an arm to stop her. Donna turned to him the feeling of being watched returning as it had earlier. Her fiery eyes snapped about the auburn hilltop, her sight extending into the valleys on either side. As before, nothing appeared and she began to fear for the worst. The former human's thoughts did not get her very far because her alien friend interrupted her.

"Soldiers!" The Doctor commented, and Donna immediately, irrationally checked around them again.

"What?" she asked feeling rather dull as she came out of her revery.

"He said soldiers," The Doctor turned back toward the little town a hand in his hair as always happened when he was thinking rather quickly and fighting with him conclusions, "Oh I am so thick."

It clicked in Donna's mind and she glanced quickly back at the town, "Soldiers." She stated, "Time Lords don't have soldiers…"

"They have warriors. They were never called soldiers. When then Gallifreyan Empire needed defending…"

"The High Council called upon the warriors." She picked up where he'd left off and then grabbed his hand, "You didn't start calling things soldiers…"

"Until after I went to Earth!" The Doctor looked back at her and then jerked his head toward the town again.

The pair took off simultaneously. Donna was just a bit slower than him but her grip on his hand kept her right behind. She felt a thrill of exhilaration as they ran. It had been a while since she'd done this, a long and often extensive run brought on by a heat of the moment decision or an alien. She held on to his hand tightly, unwilling to let it go lest they become separated. The ginger's breath was ragged already but she found she didn't care. Despite her body's protest, she kept going, running for the sake of the careless freedom.

By the time they reached the town again, both were panting. Donna doubled over, placing her hands on her knees to stop her head from spinning and her chest fought to draw breath. The Doctor appeared no better. Despite their binary respiratory system, neither seemed to be much in shape.

"Been…letting yourself…slip a bit…Spaceman?" the re-head panted lifting a pair of smiling grey eyes away from the toes of her shoes to look at him.

"Not really…" The Doctor placed a hand against the side of the door, leaning heavily upon it. He knocked, "Life's just been a bit tamer." He grinned back at her between heavy breaths, a boyish grin spread over his face, "And you have no right to call me that anymore…Earthgirl,"

"Oi, and proud of it," She drew herself back up so that she was standing again, "Why shouldn't I call you Spaceman? It's a nickname!"

He smirked and opened his mouth to speak but the door beside them swung inward again. A young man stood in the doorway. What Donna thought might have been brown hair was shaved down to mere stubble. He appeared curious and polite, but much more congenial than the prior man that they'd spoken to only minutes before.

"More visitors?" her muttered as he eyed them, "I swear, there are more people kurrining us lately than I've ever seen in such little time!"

Donna narrowed her eyes for a moment, looking at the side of the building as she delved into the Doctor's memories to interpret what he meant in a way that she understood. Hounding, in earth terms, she concluded, musing on how it seemed very interesting that at sometimes, the Doctor's memories were completely open to her while at other times she seemed more like her old human self. She glanced at her companion, crossing her arms over her chest again.

"Trelandour is you father?" The Doctor commented and the young Time Lord nodded, "Could you bring him to us; it's very important."

The young man looked between them for a moment and then nodded once before closing the door. The Doctor shifted back and forth on his feet impatient. Donna smiled at him as she watched. If he'd been a boy in school he would have been diagnosed with ADHD, but she knew that really wasn't the case. His brain just simply functioned too quickly for all of the in between stuff. Though, she thought, hers did too now, though the spinning of the thoughts inside her head never seemed to bother her like it did him.

Trelandour appeared at the door a moment later, a worried look on his face. He glanced between them anxiously and then drew in a breath, "What is it?"

"Before, when you were explaining to us, you said soldiers?" he ended the sentence as a question.

Donna was used to his unconventional way of speaking, but she saw the other Time Lord was not as understanding. The ginger, nudged her friend in the ribs. He turned his gaze away from the man to look at her, and she shook her head at the man standing before them. The Doctor frowned for a moment and then her appeared to understand her signal.

"Right, okay," Her brown-haired, brown-eyed companion turned to the man, "What I meant to ask was: Did you actually mean soldiers or was it just a slip of the tongue."

Trelandour still appeared confused but answered anyway, "I actually meant soldiers. The men that came were human."

The Doctor looked at Donna and then back at Trelandour, "Oh thank you! Thank you so much!" He grasped the man's shoulders and placed a kiss on his cheek.

Donna barely had time to raise an eyebrow before the Time Lord turned back to her. His face was split in a wide grin, not longer so worn or tired.

"Come on, Donna!" he exclaimed, grabbing her hand and pulling her away from the house.

The ginger had just enough time to catch the shell-shocked expression of the man in the door before the Doctor's haste jerked her away. Together, they took off at a run again. Donna grasped part of her skirt and lifted it slightly so that she didn't trip. It was different running up hill than down. The auburn grass brushed her legs as she ran up the hillside. Her breath caught in her chest and her sides ached. Once they'd reached the top of the rise, she let her hand slide out of his and stopped, panting. It seemed the Doctor didn't notice the absence of her hand in his for several minutes. She placed her hands on her hips for a moment, breathing roughly and frantically through her nose as she watched him start down the far side of the hill.

He slowed a moment later and then jogged back up the hill toward her. He stopped in front of her, his red converse entering her line of vision as she stared at the grass.

"Donna?" The Doctor spoke, his voice fill with concern.

"Honestly, Spaceman, not everyone spends their life running all the time. What were you planning on doing, sprinting all the way back to the Citadel?" She panted straightening. The Earth woman's hands came to rest on her hips in irritation.

The Doctor hand came up to awkwardly play with the hair at the back of his neck, "Weeee…llll"

She stared at him incredulous, "Oh my God, you actually were?

"The thought had crossed my mind, yeah," he answered sheepishly, his eyes flicking around her, "The TARDIS is there."

Donna shook her head, "At the Citadel. Doctor, she can't be. We would have felt her."

"No, not in the Citadel. There are too many psychic and telepathic connections in the Citadel for a person to sense a single being unless directly looking for it."

"Like I could sense Catherine." She nodded in understanding.

"Yes, like that. You were looking for her so you found her," The Doctor agreed.

Donna sighed and then placed a hand on his shoulder, "You know, some days, Spaceman, I think your crazy mind is rubbing off." Her hand moved away and then grasped his, "Shall we?"

The Doctor grinned broadly, "Allonsy!" he crowed and threaded his fingers through hers, taking off at a breakneck pace.

By the time night fell, Donna had lost track of how far they'd run and how many times they'd stopped for air. Their efforts had paid off however because when they crested the last rise for the day, the sun setting bright orange on the horizon, they could see purple water and the brilliant light of the Citadel's many small suns burning. She let out a gusty breath of air and sat down heavily in the long grass. It very nearly obscured her vision as she sunk into it.

"Come on, Donna! It's not too much farther!" The Doctor seemed abnormally cheerful.

Donna rolled her eyes, her head falling backward for a moment as she leaned heavily on her hands in the grass. She stared at the late day sky, watching the ochre color fade away into a deepest dark blue in the distance. She closed her gray eyes for a moment and then sat up again.

"I don't give a monkey's how much farther it is," She groaned, shooting him a glare, "We've not stopped all day."

The Doctor hopped from foot to foot momentarily, "Isn't it brilliant?! All that exercise…the running. All that stuff I've missed!"

Donna turned to him, flicking her ginger hair over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow, "Exercise? That was more like basic training. Why are you so bloody cheerful anyway?" She quipped.

"Exercise releases endorphins, Donna! Surely you know that," He stopped hopping like a child and grinned broadly as though with revelation, "I haven't felt so synaptically fluid in years! Decades even! Oh, that was brilliant, Donna."

She stared back at her alien companion, torn between amusement, irritation and bewilderment. Despite having part of his mind chattering away in her head, there were certain times when she just didn't understand him. With a sigh and a massive amount of protest from her legs, she stood again.

"Fine, Spaceman, for you 'synaptic fluidity' we'll keep going," She assented reluctantly, "but we're just walking. My legs can't run another step and neither can the rest of me."

The former temp gave him a half-hearted, disapproving stare. She did not mind the running, on the contrary, she loved it, but there was a point when necessary, if it ever had been, turned into voluntary which in this case, she was not going to continue to volunteer. Donna sighed as she started walking again, her legs and body screaming in protest. That was the Doctor she supposed; if ever there was a man who could find all of the problems in the universe to be his fault, it was him. The Doctor, ego the size of a large solar system, and a heart possibly even larger.

Donna looked up without having realized she had looked down. He'd made his way farther down the hill and with darkness falling, she was not sure if she wanted to be left behind. A sheepish glance around her and the Time Lady picked up a soft jog to catch up to him. He cast her a sidelong glance and she caught a slightly amused twinkle in his dark umber eyes. The ginger gave him a soft swat on the shoulder and then let herself smile, slipping her hand into his without looking. For some reason, with her companion, the Londoner felt a lot less out of place on the rural, auburn slopes of Gallifrey.

Donna had seen pictures of people waiting outside crowded amusement parks just waiting to get through the gates. The atmosphere at the gates of the Citadel was much the same and it bothered her. People fidgeted from one foot to the other, impatiently checking wristwatches and other time keeping devices as though they were in a hurry. Glancing at the spreading darkness in the west and the glow of the Earth in the northern sky, she understood why. It had to be well past eight o-clock and the imposed curfew was near. She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest in an equally impatient manner.

"You know," Donna quipped shortly, "being a Prince and all that bit, you'd think you'd get a free pass." She brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes in irritation, "None of this biometric security nonsense."

The ginger time lady had no need to look at her best friend, she knew his expression by the feel of his eyes on the side of her head.

"That only works if they like you." The Doctor replied, "and, for the moment, it seems as if they don't."

Donna glanced around at the crowd and noted that more than a few of the present Time Lord seemed to have there noses in the air when it came to him. She smirked to herself at their ignorance. Couldn't they see that they were the ones who deserved rebuke? Rather than her dear Doctor who did nothing but run about the universe, diving into trouble and saving entire races.

"Well that much is obvious," she commented dryly. She impatiently tapped a finger on her arm. Guilt had begun to set in. Here she was, gallivanting about the Gallifreyan countryside, with the Doctor, while her daughter, her own child, sat alone in a brand new world with people she barely knew. True, the little girl had formed a near instantaneous bond with Jenny and Luke, but all the same, it wasn't as though they knew how she liked her clothes folded, or that she always put the jam on first and then the peanut butter just to make it more difficult. A smile broke her features.

"Something funny?" The Doctor commented as they stepped forward in line a few feet.

Donna shook her head, "Just thinking that I should have known from the start that Shaun wasn't Catherine's father." A cough made her look up at her friend and gave him a soft back-handed whap on the shoulder, "I'm not sayin' anything of the sort and you know it Spaceman." she flipped a piece of her ginger hair over her shoulder and shrugged, "I just mean, well she wasn't exactly normal, and I know it makes no bloody sense, but she's just so much like you."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, "Oh, how so?"

"She has the odd little quirks, always making to make la deed a things seem like more than they are," she smiled at the memories that this brought to mind, "You know, she put the peanut butter on second just to make it harder." The former temp paused, "and she simply loves bananas."

"And all that adds up to it completely making sense that I'm her father?" the corner of the Doctor's lips were raised in a barely suppressed smile.

Donna look up at her friend and then smacked his arm again, "Oh, shut it!" she snapped, a barely her own hidden smile fighting its way onto her face.

They stood in silence for a moment, occasionally glancing at each other. She had missed this, so missed this. For a moment, the troubling days they'd had just seemed to fall away into nothing. And then it returned with the abrupt beeping that signified the beginning of curfew.


End file.
